I need to stop editing these as soon as I wake up.
I probably won't, of course...
But I should.
Anyways without further ado, gosh I'm tired.
Chapter 42: Good News and Bad News
Preparations were in order, though the jury was still out on whether or not Zaku was.
He sat silently in the medical tent, having been cleared by the chief doctor for combat. His thoughts, however, still dwelled on his and the rest of his unit's interrogation these past weeks. They'd kept quiet, being brought back in after Sakura and her teacher had been distracted by their training, kept too busy to notice their plight.
It's not their fault. Zaku knew, even if it was hard not to want to blame them for the bugs he thought he could still feel crawling under his skin. I know it's not their fault… but…
It was hard to separate the pain they'd experienced that day from the girl's oh-so innocent face.
A face that, if he wasn't wrong, got prettier by the–
Nope. Not going there. Zaku cut that particular train of thought before his treacherous mind could even start. That way lies madness.
The door, or, perhaps it was better to say flap, to the tent was pushed open, and Kin walked inside. She shot him an easy smile, though there was certainly some pain hiding behind her eyes.
"Hey." She called, walking over and sitting down on the grass in front of him. "You get cleared to go?"
They'd all initially been held up, the doctors wanting to make sure they were in a good condition before they accepted them on. Dosu had been the first to gain clearance, and for the both of them, the testing had come down to the wire.
"Yeah. You?"
The girl gave a small hum of acknowledgement, leaning back until she was resting upon the dirt beneath her, sighing tiredly as she looked up at the roof above her.
"I'm getting kind of tired of having my ass kicked, Zaku."
He snorted unconsciously, an odd noise that was entirely unlike him. Kin shot him a small smile, but one of her eyebrows was slightly elevated, as if asking him a silent question.
"Oh, and what's so funny about that?"
"N-nothing, nothing." Zaku held his hands in the air, surrendering before things could get complicated. "I get the feeling. Trust me. Just thought it was a bit of an odd way to start a conversation."
"Zaku you may get your ass kicked notably more than me," The girl started. "But I get my ass kicked harder than you do."
"Is… is this a real discussion we're having?" Zaku looked at the girl with a deadpan expression. "Because if it is, there's thing I need to do… outside…"
"Oh, shut up!" The girl yelled at him, but the slight upturn of her mouth indicated her amusement. "I'm trying to make small talk over here and you're suddenly being a piece of shit."
"I'm always a piece of shit." Zaku corrected her, wagging his finger while hiding a smirk on his face. "I'm almost worried that you're only noticing now."
Kin laughed, her body shaking lightly as she stood off the floor, yawning into her hand.
"So uh… whatcha' been up to?"
Zaku exhaled through his nose, mirth coursing through him.
"Not wanting to talk about the raid?"
Kin's eyes widened, before she looked down at the ground, sighing.
"That obvious?"
"Just a little."
The girl lost some of the light in her eyes, standing up and walking over towards the bed Zaku was sat upon, plopping down right next to him and letting her arms fall into her lap, hanging off the bed in a way that made her look even more defeated than before.
"I'm a bit scared, honestly." Kin admitted finally, smiling despite the gloomy mood hanging around the both of them. "I'm just so tired of being thrown from place to place to place, always beat to shit and tossed aside like garbage. First the streets, then Orochimaru, and now Root… I mean, can't the three of us just catch a break for once!?"
Zaku didn't speak, though he did scoot slightly closer to the girl, hoping his presence, at least, would help calm her down slightly. Kin didn't say anything, other than breath out through her teeth as she drew her hands together, trying to still their shaking.
"I always enter these stupid missions thinking… what if this is it, y'know?" Kin turned to him ever so slightly. "Like, what if we all get killed by some trap, or a Jonin catches us and cuts us down before we can so much as scream… or Danzo planted some bomb in our chests that he can blow up at any time, or… Guh!"
The girl ran a hand down her face, trying to shed away some of her fear. It didn't seem to be working, and so Zaku reached his arm outwards, putting the limb around the girl's shoulder and pulling her into him. To anyone else, the gesture might've seemed romantic, or perhaps a bit creepy if taken the wrong way, but he liked to think they both knew it was just a comforting sort of thing.
"I'm scared too." Zaku admitted, smiling at the girl. "But… we've just gotta' believe we'll survive, right?"
Kin's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she turned towards him, before she let out a small laugh, pushing off of his body and standing up off the bed.
"Gods, you say that like it's the simplest thing in the world."
"Well, I mean, it kind of is-"
His thoughts were interrupted by a small pain on his forehead, one that actually managed to launch his face backwards. He felt an indignant sort of rage fill him as he massaged the injured area, looking back to the girl before him, whose lips curled into her mouth as she tried to hold back her laughter.
"Oi!" Zaku shouted, now feeling more humor than anything. "What was that for!?"
Kin laughed, falling back onto the floor and holding her ribs as she cackled loudly. Zaku felt an odd sense of joy as he watched the girl's laughing face, and decided to try and prolong the bit as much as he could.
"That really hurt you know!"
The girl didn't respond, horribly amused by her own antics as she curled into a ball, shaking as she looked up towards him, eyes glinting with mirth and tears.
"I thought we were having a nice moment there for a second…" The smile on his face was perverting his attempts to act upset, and instead he sounded weirdly confused. "And you had to go and flick me in the forehead!?"
"No more…" The girl barely eked out as she giggled quietly, trying to suppress the laughter. "S-stop!"
Zaku smirked, acquiescing to her request as he stood up, offering his hand out to her to help her up off the floor, laughing as she wiped at her eyes with her hand, she herself giving a small giggle.
"Heh," Kin finally recovered, letting her head fall backwards as the smile on her face persisted. "Thanks. I needed that."
"Didn't really mean to or anything." Zaku spoke as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Just… kinda' did."
"Yes, yes." Kin rolled her eyes. "You could always consider just accepting the sentiment, you know."
Zaku grumbled under his breath, but couldn't really find a way to refute the girls statement. He'd never been the best at taking compliments, though it wasn't like he received them very often. He'd simply always thought that, after what had happened with Reis, he didn't deserve them.
There was a knock on one of the steel beams holding their tent up, which was about the funniest thing Zaku had ever seen, for it meant the person trying to enter was perhaps the most polite person in all the world.
"Come in." He called out, already having a pretty good idea of who it was at the entrance. "It's not locked."
"Yeah, I kind of assumed it wouldn't be." Sakura Haruno joked back at him, rolling her eyes as she spotted Kin, giving the other girl a teasing glare. "Oh, and you're here too, I suppose."
"Indeed." His teammate spoke, walking over to Sakura with her head slightly elevated, as if trying to intimidate the girl before her by looking taller. "Whatcha' doin' here, slut?"
Zaku's eyes widened to comical proportions as he immediately entered damage control mode, finding himself a bit angry at Kin as he took a step towards her, but was stopped as Sakura's smile only grew at the girl's comment.
"Oh, nothing much, skank. Just here to check in on you all, see how you're doing," Sakura eyed the girl before her. "I know how fragile you guys are, after all, so I was worried about how you'd be taking things."
Ok… either they're about to kill each other…
A moment later, both Sakura and Kin burst into laughter, reaching their hands out and bumping fists.
…Or they went and became friends when I wasn't paying attention.
"Seriously though, you guys hanging in there?" Sakura's voice carried some degree of worry now, no longer putting on her earlier act. "I heard about what happened from Anko… I felt terrible about the way Danzo abused you all behind our backs."
Zaku looked towards Kin to get the girl's opinion on the matter, receiving a rather overconfident shrug that he was fairly sure was the girl acting tough in front of her 'friend'.
"It's no big deal." The girl spoke, shooting Sakura another smirk. "We're strong, y'know. You don't have to worry about us. If we dealt with Orochimaru for years, then we can handle someone like Danzo!"
"'Dealt with' Orochimaru is an awfully harsh way to put it, given that he could've killed any of us at any time."
Zaku turned towards the voice who'd just spoken, finding Dosu standing in the middle of the entranceway, having accrued them a few sets of weaponry for the upcoming raid. He tossed Zaku a bag that, when it landed in his hands and shook slightly, he assumed was filled with kunai, shuriken, and a few other tools and trinkets.
"Thanks." He offered to the boy as he stepped inside, giving Sakura an odd look. "What took you so long, by the way? You were gone for like two hours."
"Just some assholes at the armorer's tent. They held our former statuses over our heads for a bit, tried to deny me the weapons without cause, that kind of thing." Dosu sounded bored as he yawned into his hand. "Anyways, when they figured out I wasn't going to be crying for mommy, they finally let me take a few, but, well, long story short, they delayed over and over again."
"They sound like pieces of shit." Kin summarized rather unhelpfully. "Guys you recognized?"
"Nah." Dosu let out with a sigh. "Just some punks who thought they were tough shit, most likely."
"They sound horrible!" Sakura spoke out, sounding far too offended about the matter. "I'll go and speak with them, they have no right to treat you all-"
"And since when were you our spokesperson?" Dosu glared at the girl over his shoulder, still turned towards Kin. "Relax. If I cared about them, I'd have done something about it. I dealt with hundreds of people like them when I lived in the sound village. Plenty of assholes just want to throw their perceived power around."
"That doesn't make it right." Sakura breathed out under her breath.
"Sure, but that also doesn't mean you have to raise an objection to every little thing."
Dosu was, perhaps, the only member of their little band who hadn't warmed up to Sakura. He, much like Zaku, saw the girl as overwhelmingly naïve and innocent, but he also didn't have any attachment to the girl like Zaku and Kin did. Dosu usually chose to avoid social situations as well, and if he ever was social, it was largely isolated to their team, and he especially avoided confrontation like it was the plague, unless it was overwhelmingly necessary.
Dosu was, in essence, someone who kept his nose out of trouble. He called himself a survivor.
And for him, that meant avoiding someone who seemed to be a magnet for danger like Sakura.
Zaku could at the very least understand the boy's position. He'd been a loner on the streets all those years ago before he'd found a group to fall in with, and they'd had a good few months to get to know each other before they stole from the wrong people, and were systematically hunted down one by one, until it had been only him left standing.
And even when he'd been assigned to Kin and Dosu after being drafted by Orochimaru, they'd all largely avoided interaction with one another, aside from routine check-ins and meaningless small talk.
So, he couldn't exactly begrudge the boy for not wanting to associate with the pink-haired kunoichi, but that didn't mean he wanted it to stay like it was, either, because despite his best wishes, and most of his common sense, he still retained his little crush on Sakura.
There was a loud whistling noise that sounded out through the camp, hanging for multiple seconds and catching the attention of everyone in their little tent.
"That's the signal." Dosu spoke casually, gesturing to his two teammates. "Come on, we're a part of the second attack team."
"Oh, you guys too?" Sakura smiled, pointing towards herself with her thumb. "So are me and Anko. From what they said, there's going to be an initial assault team that focuses on disarming any traps they've set up, along with keeping themselves alive, they're being led by…" Sakura suddenly hesitated, apparently caught on something. "Choji's dad… I forgot his name…"
"Choza Akimichi." Dosu supplied to those of them who didn't quite remember the name 'Choji' off the top of their heads. "One of the three pieces of the Ino-Shika-Cho combination, one of the foremost military threats of the leaf village."
"Huh, I didn't realize he was so famous."
"Well, we did a lot of research on key leaf figures when we were planning to-" Zaku cut himself off. "Uh, yeah, he's very famous."
"You do realize I know you guys were going to destroy the village, right?" Sakura smirked at them a bit teasingly. "There's no need to hold back. You helped supply us with information that was vital in holding them off. You don't have to feel ashamed that a few Genin couldn't say no to Orochimaru of all people."
"Meh, we chose to come on the mission." Dosu explained. "It was an opportunity for growth. It wasn't like Orochimaru didn't have other teams who could've fulfilled our role."
Kin smirked at her.
"Yeah princess, you sure you should be socializing with us? I'd think your mother told you about hanging out with the bad crowd."
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you." Sakura sighed, massaging her face with one hand, though Zaku had a feeling the movement was more to hide her grin than anything. "We should probably get going, though."
They all agreed to that, at least, following behind the girl as she made her way out of the tent first, idly chatting with Kin as the two walked side-by-side.
"Are they friends?" Dosu asked Zaku quietly as they continued walking. "Because I didn't think they were last time I checked."
"Heh, yeah, same here." He responded as they pushed into the crowd of ninja before them. "I think something happened while I was out."
"Oh, it might've been… well, it doesn't matter anyways."
"Well now I want to know?"
"Then ask her yourself."
"I guess that's fair."
Choza, the man supposed to be leading the first attack squad, was having one final check in with the operations leader, Shikaku Nara. Even before arriving in the village, The black haired ninja had been one of the few people Orochimaru had taken to briefing them on back in the their main base.
Overwhelmingly cunning and shrewd, he was a man to never be underestimated. They were told to always assume that he had a plan, even in a situation where he realistically couldn't. If they encountered him, they were to disengage any and all contact, and to never try and engage the man in conversation.
Nor, however, should he have been engaged in combat. The foremost living expert on the Nara's shadow weaving Jutsu, he could kill you without you even knowing he was there, and without even having to get his hands dirty.
All he needed was light, and what came out of it.
Zaku was broken out of his memories by Choza's shout, which was used to fire up his own squadron as they charged into an open dirt hole in the ground, one which Tenzo, the man who'd rescued them from Root, had dug into the ground.
Even if they hadn't had a large amount of time to find out where the tunnel lead in the enemy base, it was still a far cry better than charging into the base through the front door, which would've been far more akin to suicide than anything else.
"We'll be giving them five minutes." Shikaku shouted to the second squadron, the one that he, Kin, Dosu, and Sakura and her mentor were apart of. "We're going to follow up quick enough that they won't be surrounded, but also before the enemy could loop around them and set up more traps, while still giving them enough time to remove one's that have already been placed down ahead of us."
Shikaku turned back towards the other man beside him, a tall, blonde man who Zaku also recognized as Inoichi Yamanaka, the leaf's foremost intelligence agent.
"We'll hit them hard with our initial assault, interrogate their frontline with Inoichi's Jutsu, which should nullify their tongue tattoos, and then strike at Danzo's main line of defense with the information we gather. The third team will be entering right behind ours, so play defensively, protecting them as best you can."
The unit gave a general noise of acknowledgement, and Shikaku nodded himself, gazing down at his own shadow, and, if Zaku wasn't mistaken, actually reading the time through nothing but the shadow's movement alone.
"Right, that's four and a half minutes, get into formation and prepare to breach!"
There was no complaining, no second guessing. Zaku marveled briefly at the level of aptitude the unit before him showed. Apparently, it had been comprised largely on the spot, taking the best they could get for a defensive squadron, skills like walls, healing, and crowd control, and mashing them together on short notice.
The fact that they didn't hesitate to trust this Shikaku person…
Guy must really be something.
"On my mark." Shikaku held his hand up, and by the way he stood off to the side, it was clear he would be holding up the rear of their second squad, or, at the very least, entering after the very first line of troops.
Shikaku's fingers dropped in second intervals, until, at last, there were none remaining, and the man dropped the hand forwards, signaling for the front line, the first group of the second team, to charge forward into Tenzo's tunnel, ready to go to war.
Theirs was the second group, which meant they were in charge of helping both the first group secure an area, and establishing a method for the third group, who'd largely be assisting the intelligence team, to enter in behind them and not be threatened by any of Root's first defensive teams.
Shikaku pointed to their group's leader, an elder Jonin that Zaku didn't know, and the woman signaled for them to follow. Dosu went first, and he held up the rear behind Kin as they charged forward.
Sakura's group was the third, led by Anko, of all people, and they'd hold up the rear of the second assault team, basically just confirming the tunnels as safe, and helping the intelligence team set up.
The tunnel Tenzo had created was far wider than Zaku had first expected. It was easily able to fit two people walking side by side the entire way down, which made it much easier for them to filter into the room below, and immediately notice the signs of battle.
There were already a few casualties, though, notably, none of them were members of their operation. A few ninja wearing masks were strewn here and there, downed with weapons that seemed to strike at vital points.
However, at the mouth of the cave, tied to the wall, was another body, though this one was different.
Mostly in that it was still alive.
And that Zaku actually recognized the boy.
"Sai!?" Sakura called worriedly to the boy as she too entered the compound, walking right up to him and kneeling down beside him. "Sai, are you-"
"Back away." Anko spoke to her simply, acting far more seriously than she normally would given her position. "We don't know what he's capable of, even tied up like that. We'll secure the area and have Inoichi scan his mind, get everything out of him that we can."
Sai didn't move at that, but, then again, Zaku was fairly sure he'd been knocked out.
There was a rumbling as the room seemed to shake, and he assumed that meant the fighting was carrying on below them. He turned towards the general of this little operation, who finally made his way down the stairs, and took stock of the room as the rest of them silently awaited orders.
"Secure the area." Shikaku finally spoke, walking towards the edge of the room, where the doorway that the first assault team had taken was still hanging open. "We'll make sure to get the information that we can out of this one. Once we've confirmed the third group's presence, and the lack thereof of any threats, we'll push in to move the perimeter forward."
A general murmur of acceptance followed the man's quick speech, and they settled into their rolls of keeping watch on the room. Zaku, more than anything, watched the places where dust fell from the ceiling, because even if it was likely just the shaking and rumbling of the floors below them causing the dust to free itself, there was still a piece of him that saw it as overly suspicious.
It wasn't that long before Inoichi's squadron arrived behind them, immediately turning towards Shikaku, and taking stock of the situation. There was a small buzzing out of Shikaku's ear, and Zaku realized that the man was wearing a small ear piece, one that would allow him to communicate with the first assault team.
"Right. Understood." Shikaku spoke into the device, before turning back towards the rest of them. "Choza's cleared a path for us, but he's finally encountering some resistance on the third level. We're going to get as much information out of this one as we can, then move in towards the main rooms with the second assault team. Our role will be capture or assassination of Danzo Shimura. Obviously we'd prefer the first option, but if you see your shot, and you don't think you'll get another… don't hesitate."
Another general sound of agreement, and Inoichi went to work. His team drew symbols on the floor around Sai as some other's bound him in place. The boy didn't squirm or panic outwardly, but even Zaku couldn't miss the way sweat dripped down the side of his face. It seemed that one couldn't quite kill all of their emotions at such a young age.
The next moment, Inoichi put both of his hands on the boy's temples, and Sai's eyes rolled back, as if instantly falling asleep. They were there no more than a minute before Inoichi rose suddenly, turning towards Shikaku with a small smile.
"Eighth sublevel, in a secondary, hidden room." The man brought out a scroll from his trench coat, beginning to scribble on it immediately. "I'll give you a rough map."
"Much appreciated." Shikaku spoke, smirking in an overly confident way. "Alright, boys, you heard the man. We'll be setting off as soon as he manages to jot us down some directions. Clean insertion, don't kill anyone if you don't have to."
Zaku couldn't help but think that rule was a bit odd, but it was actually Dosu who voiced the question, stepping forward with what had used to be his gauntlet hand raised in the air.
"Might I ask why we're avoiding killing, sir? I'm not complaining, just curious."
Shikaku let out a breath that, if you dug hard enough, could've been construed as a laugh.
"Well, simply put, they're leaf ninja, same as us." Shikaku pointed out, sounding like a much better person than he did when he opened his mouth again a second later. "And also, because we can't afford to be wasting any potential manpower after Orochimaru's attack a few weeks back. If we can rehabilitate the hundred's of ninja's inside here, then that's hundred's of ninja's that can pick up the slack of those we lost."
Dosu nodded, stepping back as Inoichi handed the scroll he'd been sketching on over to Shikaku, who, after a brief glance at the object, signaled for the rest of the second attack team to form up.
"Right. We're heading out. Same formation as before, the first group will secure the next room, making sure the first assault team is doing their jobs."
There was a small bit of laughter at the man's joke, but most were hyper serious.
"Sheesh, tough crowd." Shikaku smirked. "After that, the second group will be given the all clear, followed thirty seconds later by the third group. After that, we'll be heading into uncharted territory, which means we'll likely be encountering live combat. Do your best to not be surrounded, because time we have to spend bailing any of you out of trouble is time we aren't spending ending this operation before it can get messy. Any questions?"
There were none.
"Right. First group, on my mark!"
A few moments later, Shikaku thrust his hand down, and the first group charged into the doorway. There were no sounds of combat, nor were there sounds of any traps going off, or anything that would've impeded them in any way.
"Right. Second group, you're up next."
Zaku readied himself, standing beside Dosu and Kin as they prepared to breach.
Three… two… one…
The man's hand fell, and the second group charged in.
/-/
Sakura couldn't help but feel like things were going just a bit too well.
From what they'd seen as they charged down the corridors, following in the wake of the first assault team, there had been no Leaf casualties thus far. There were injured, of course, but those who filtered back through the crowds were often healed in a minute or less, and sent straight back to the frontlines to continue their attack.
It all just felt so weirdly… wrong.
"What's the matter, Sakura?" Her mentor voiced up from beside her, finding a moment where she didn't need to be leading their squadron to investigate her student's discomfort. "Something on your mind?"
She voiced her concerns to the woman after a moment, and though Anko didn't laugh, it was clear from the way her eyes twinkled that she found some small bit of mirth in Sakura's statement.
"Worried things are too easy, huh? Yeah, I can see why, with your track record, you'd probably think this is a bit too easy."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you've had pretty much nothing but odd jobs your entire career." Anko clarified, signaling for the squad to stop as a messenger bird flew towards her. "One sec."
Sakura nodded as the woman read the small missive, before, with a nod and a jotted-down message on the parchment, she sent it backwards the way they'd come from, back towards the intelligence squad, and motioned for the squad to halt for the time being.
"What was that about?"
"Message from the first squadron." Anko elucidated. "Just a simple order to stay put for the time being, they've encountered a few more extreme traps, and they want some distance between the rest of the squads before their seal-master starts working on disarming them, on the off chance something goes wrong. There was a few other orders there as well that are a bit more sensitive in nature."
"Why would you use a bird for that?" Sakura asked, thinking the whole thing a bit dumb. "I mean… you're all wearing ear pieces, aren't you?"
"Do you remember when we were back in our room?"
"Yeah, why?"
"What was the thing that ultimately defeated us?" Anko looked smug as she asked the question. "Do you remember?"
Sakura scanned her memories for a brief moment, before coming across the particular memory Anko was referring to.
"Yeah, I remember. It was a recording-" She stopped suddenly. "Oh. I get it now."
"Good, good." Anko spoke as she ruffled her hair. "Anyways, yeah. We're much more likely to catch camera's and the like as we go through, because they, at least, need to have some spot of them that pokes out of the wall to function. Since the audio devices don't, we have basically no chance of spotting them unless we specifically search for them with our techniques, and that takes time we don't always have. Thusly, whenever we're not communicating something that has to reach all teams immediately, we'll send it via messenger hawk, since it's far harder to intercept that kind of communication over a short distance. Stuff like squad adjustments, casualty lists, interrogation results. Stuff that, if the enemy found out about them, could be bad."
Sakura nodded, finally understanding the main plan of the mission's higher-ups. She mentally apologized to Shikaku and the other strategists as she reiterated her question from earlier.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Anko cleared her throat, before continuing from where she'd left off. "Right, so, you've basically dealt with way too much shit in your lives as Genin, like, in just the few months you've been Genin, you dealt with about as many Jonin as I faced until I was halfway to the rank myself."
Sakura's eyes widened at that, but Anko just kept going.
"Not to mention the Jonin you fought were some of the strongest guys of the generation. I mean, one of the Seven swords of the Mist, A freakin' Sannin, and a Junchuuriki!?" This time, Anko did actually laugh. "No offense, Sakura, but you and your team have just about the worst luck you could get. This," She gestured to the room around them, though Sakura took that to mean the general state of the mission they were on. "Is generally how missions go. They're mostly straight-forward and to the point, and you're told up front what you're dealing with."
Sakura nodded, at the very least getting how things should have been.
"But yeah, these encounters with super high ranked ninja every other day?" Anko smirked. "Not a normal thing. Most Genin don't see an enemy Jonin until they're at the very least Chuunin themselves, and very few even survive meeting ninja like you guys have unless they're about as strong as one of your teachers."
"Did you mean you, or Kakashi?"
"Both of us. He may be… like… a bit stronger than me…"
Sakura raised an eyebrow in challenge at that.
"OK, so he's quite a bit stronger than me, but even still, I could get my way out of a fight with someone like that if I had to. Orochimaru taught me to be a slippery bitch when I needed to be." Anko seemed to realize something. "Aaand now you've got me off topic. Damnit Sakura."
"I fail to see how that's my fault, but sure, blame me."
Just then, the bird flew past them, coming back from the back of the formation, and carrying a new note on it's leg that seemed to have replaced the old one. If Sakura were to guess, she'd assume it was a confirmation that all squads had received the earlier memo.
"Anyways," Anko tried to pick back up from where she'd left off. "In a nutshell, you guys have dealt with some crazy shit that isn't at all indicative of what normal ninja missions you should be undertaking are going to entail. Especially a mission led by the Leaf's top squad of ninja, and planned out by one of the smartest strategist's the world's ever seen."
Well, Sakura thought, feeling a bit of relief wash over her. That's certainly nice to know–
"Though, of course, with your luck, I'm sure we'll be attacked by some super-powered guy wielding the Rinnegan or something within the hour."
She tilted her head to the side.
"Rinnegan?"
"Mythical eye Jutsu." Anko informed her. "A fairytale thing. They say the Sage of the Six paths had them for eyes or something, but honestly, I sort of forgot that story, so don't hold me to that."
"Great, good to know I'm getting information from a reliable source."
"Don't be judgy." Anko muttered under her breath as she looked back towards the mouth of the room, where the small sound of flapping wings echoed into the space. "Ah, finally."
The bird landed once more on Anko's arm, and she took a brief moment to inspect the writing before holding her hand up, signaling for the team to rise.
"Alright. We move out on my mark." Anko shouted, rousing the less ready members, who, perhaps having assumed the missions was already over, had taken to leaning against the walls of the room, some even briefly falling asleep. "I'll breach the hole first, Homer, you're holding up the rear."
"Aye-aye ma'am!" A ninja Sakura had never seen before saluted the woman, turning his back to the rest of them as he took a readying stance.
Anko finally allowed the bird on her arm to leave, though not before signing a small message, presumably her signature, on the paper. The bird followed the exact same routine he'd taken last time, flying back towards the Intelligence squadron waiting just behind for the signal.
"Alright…" Anko gestured towards the door, taking a few steps forward. "Let's go."
Sakura followed behind the woman as she exited the room, signaling for them to follow her down a fairly complex route of winding halls and branching paths.
They reached the first and second teams of the second assault squadron, and Shikaku waved lightly at them as they approached, Anko giving the man a very quick status report, which consisted of the words "Nothing to report" and nothing else.
"Right." Shikaku spoke, then, with a quick breath, he addressed the entire assault team. "Alright, this is where our job begins. So far, we've just been following in the wake of the first assault team, but it's now that we have to use some of that youthful energy we've been keeping around."
A few people laughed again, though just like the man's last joke, most people stayed entirely silent.
"Eh, I'll nail a good one one of these days." The leader cleared his throat. "Right, so while the first assault team went left," He pointed down the hall, where the signs of battle were evident along the walls of the compound. "We'll be going right, and making ourselves a tunnel thanks to Tenzo, who will soon be joining us from the third intelligence team."
At that very moment, the man in question entered the room, bowing quickly to Shikaku as the man gestured for him to join the briefing.
"We will make a quick, calculated strike at the head of this beast, and we will sever it before it can so much as blink. Like I said earlier, we're not here to kill Danzo, we'd much rather gather information from him regarding his involvement with Orochimaru, among other things. Of course, things don't always go exactly how we've planned them, so if you think the only way we're getting Danzo back to the Leaf Village is in a body bag, don't hesitate."
Everyone called back, or at the very least acknowledged the man's order.
"Right, if everyone understands, then we're good to go, Tenzo, go ahead and start on our tunnel."
The man nodded, stepping forward to the spot Shikaku pointed to and beginning to work, carving out huge chunks of the wall with the wood and earth styles, before beginning to descend into the hole he'd created as he pushed more and more dirt and debris out of his way.
"Right, we'll wait for him to make decent progress, then…"
The way Shikaku stopped speaking sent a small chill up Sakura's spine, as if something had suddenly gone awry in a way she couldn't even see. A moment later, the man's shadow grew to perhaps ten times its normal size, stretching outwards and up the wall just behind him, snaking into the roof above him.
There was a brief scurrying sound from the area his shadow had climbed into, and then, without warning, the roof broke underneath the weight of a ninja, who plummeted to the floor, entirely encased in a shadowy binding.
"Y'know," Shikaku spoke up, giving the man an intimidating look as his shadow squeezed the man's body together, already seemingly cracking bone. "I was just thinking we could've used another one to interrogate."
The man struggled helplessly against the bindings, until he'd managed to flip himself over, his face showing towards the group around them. Sakura, to her shock, actually recognized the man as the Genjutsu user she and Anko had fought against no more than half a day ago.
"Isn't he…" Sakura asked Anko, watching as the woman nodded, and then, witnessing her face grow a pale white. "Sensei?"
"Sir!" Anko pushed past her, walking over to where Shikaku was stood with an ashen expression. "This one's a Genjutsu specialist. My student and I fought him sir, if he didn't use any of that here, then…"
For some reason, Shikaku's eyes grew wide as well, and he immediately raised his voice, shouting seriously for the first time.
"I need fifteen into the hole!" He shouted, pointing towards Tenzo's entrypoint. "Everyone else, head back to the intelligence division, let them know what happened, and see if they can't clear the debris!"
Sakura was overwhelmingly confused.
"Wait, wha-"
"NO TIME!" Anko shouted, pulling her by the hand down the hallway, and trying to ignore the way the soldier behind them, the man whom Shikaku still had restrained, laughed maniacally at them all.
"You bastards… won't escape here alive…!" He let out one final laugh as Shikaku squeezed down on him harder than before, crushing his bones to powder as the man let out one final gasp. "Long live… Lord… Danzo…"
"RUN!"
Anko and Sakura barely made it to the hole Tenzo was digging, along with a Shikaku, Dosu, Kin, Zaku, and a few other ninja, along with, strangely enough, a fully grown wolf, before the man's dead body began to glow a faint white. It was only a moment later that Sakura realized what was happening, and her eyes went wide as she hugged onto her teacher…
Just before the man's body exploded.
She decided, about thirty seconds later, when the dust had settled, that she was completely tired of explosions.
"Is everyone alive?" Shikaku's voice called out in the darkness. "If any of you can use a fire jutsu to light this up, it'd be much appreciated."
A moment later, a flame came to light in the middle of the tunnel, coming from the hand of a ninja Sakura didn't know.
"Thanks. Alright, so we're essentially trapped in here for the time being. Tenzo's going to keep cutting that hole, or at least… I assume he is?"
"I am, sir."
"He is indeed." Shikaku confirmed. "And we're going to obey the plan exactly as it was stated before. We'll take this tunnel down to the eighth sublevel. Tenzo, where are you now?"
"Around the fifth." The man called back, though Sakura could only just barely see the silhouette of his body in the faint light. "It's going to be around five minutes before I can get us an exit-point."
"Understood." He looked around the room, seeing the way some of them were quite a bit scared. "Don't panic." The man spoke first, mostly addressing the four Genin he'd ended up stuck with. "We accounted for these kinds of variables when creating this plan. We may have lost a few people in that explosion, but we can't focus on that right now. Assume that everyone's fine until you can afford to worry, got it!?"
The people in the room gave a weak call back, and Shikaku rubbed his goatee absently, thinking hard about their next chain of events.
"Right, so there are two main ways this could go when we get down there."
Sakura nodded, as did the rest of them. Even Dosu, who generally seemed to ignore authority figures, seemed to have gained some respect for the man standing before them, staying completely silent as the man continued.
"The first way, and the best way, is that despite that man's suicide bombing, they haven't actually figured out our plan. We'll get to pop out somewhere, surprise a few guards, and run straight to Danzo."
"The second, and in my opinion far more likely way this will play out, is that that suicide bomber was sent in to separate us, forcing us to comply mostly with how they want this to play out. I always knew Danzo was a piece of trash, but I honestly thought he'd draw the line somewhere. Guess I've learned my lesson not to underestimate him." Shikaku sighed as he kept going. "We should expect them to have traps laid out for us. Tenzo, even you should be careful. Feel around with your branches a bit before you cut into the walls."
"Already ahead of you." Tenzo called back. "I found a few earth mines lying inside them. I've disarmed them all, for the most part, but just in case I miss one, you should all be careful."
Sakura swallowed on nothing, trying to keep herself calm. Anko's hand gripped hers suddenly, and squeezed down on it.
"Don't worry." The woman spoke to her, a smile on her face. "He's just being overly careful. He's done a thousand infiltrations like this in the past. He's no stranger to dealing with defenses like these."
Sakura nodded, trying to focus on that. Everyone here, besides her and the sound trio, were expert ninjas, highly experienced and more than capable of pulling off this job. Just because they'd been forced into what was now likely the main attack group didn't mean they'd be forced to step up to the plate and be as skilled as them.
They'll protect us. Sakura reassured herself. But that doesn't mean I can afford to hold them back, either.
"I-I…" She shouted suddenly, causing half the people in the tunnel to jump, looking towards her with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance. "I know Healing Jutsu! I-If you get injured, then I can patch you back up."
She decided to leave out the fact that she'd only done it once, and that she wasn't completely sure she could do it again. Still, the way their faces lit up when she said that was worth the potential blow to her pride. She'd find a way to be useful here. She had to.
The people around her smirked, evidently liking the sudden burst of confidence, feigned as it was. A ninja she didn't know, a woman with red markings on her face, slapped her on the back rather hard, in what Sakura was fairly sure was supposed to be an encouraging gesture.
"Almost there." Tenzo spoke. "Thirty seconds, maximum."
"Alright everyone." Shikaku spoke, walking down to where Tenzo was rather quickly making headway into the dirt. "Once he opens a path, we clear the hole. I want Mitarashi and Inuzuka taking point. I'll go in second, then the Genin come third. The rest of you are holding up the rear and helping Tenzo close the tunnel back up."
Kiba's clan? Sakura wondered as she looked towards the woman who Shikaku had called Inuzuka, the same woman who'd just whacked her across the spine. She seemed to be around the same age as their leader, perhaps in her late thirties. Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. Maybe she's Kiba's mom or aunt or something.
Sakura focused as the rest of the group nodded, understanding their role.
"Alright. Prepare to breach…"
He held up his hand as light began to shine from the edge of the wall Tenzo was working on. The man reached his hands back, and then, like a metronome, slammed them back in, sending dirt and debris flying into the room just beyond them.
"BREACH!"
Anko and the unnamed Inuzuka took point, the two women and a dog so large it could've easily been a wolf charging into the room, scanning it and, after reaching the conclusion that there was nothing to be found, signaled for Shikaku to enter.
"Genin, on me."
Sakura followed, along with Dosu, Zaku, and Kin, who walked along with her. They took stock of their surroundings almost immediately, determined not to be a burden.
The room they were in was quite large, almost resembling the training room Sakura had been in just a few days prior. On second examination, Sakura recognized the room as, while not the exact same one she'd trained in, a training room of some kind.
Tenzo walked back over to his tunnel, using an earth Jutsu on both sides of the walls that collapsed the entrance in on itself, effectively sealing them down there.
"Why do that?" Sakura asked Anko, feeling just the tiniest bit claustrophobic. "I mean, couldn't we use that to get back out?"
"We could." Anko agreed. "But at the same time, our opponent could also use it to flank us from behind. Especially since they used that man as a method to seal up some of our options. They wanted us to go this way, that's almost certain. It's in our best interest to hold onto as many advantages as we can get, and that tunnel lost it's usefulness the moment we made it down here."
Sakura nodded her head, understanding that, at least. She tried not to think about the Genjutsu specialist who'd so freely given his life, all for the purpose of perhaps giving Danzo a strategic advantage…
"Smelling something." The older Inuzuka spoke up. "Multiple signatures incoming from two directions. I'm thinking they're not just scrambling either, they're moving with purpose."
"Hmm…" Shikaku thought for a moment, before turning around to look at all of them. "Well, good news is, we've made it to the eighth sub-level."
They all heard the shuffling of feet on the stone around them, and then, they saw as a few of the faster or more skilled ninja flash stepped into the room, taking battle stances as they moved to surround their squad.
"Bad news…"
A few ninja more rounded the corner, dressed in the traditional garb of Root. They wore all black trench coats, and their faces were adorned with monstrous masks, clear imitations of the Anbu's.
"Is that I think they know we're here."
End Chapter 42
Heyo.
Naruto and Sasuke don't feature in this chapter, but that's mainly because them featuring here would basically just be them arguing with one another as they walked back to the Leaf Village with Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune. Not exactly gripping stuff, though I may end up putting them in next chapter if I think of anything funny to write for them.
This will be the first of probably one or two more chapters of the Raid on Root, so we'll be at this for a bit longer.
See you all next week!
