Chapter 4

If the sudden availability of water had been music, it would have been playing throughout Anvegad like a sold out rock concert. As the reservoir filled and the ancient aqueducts ran the precious resource throughout the fort, morale lifted with the current. People were no longer slinking about from task to task; there was a palpable cheer in the air, with neighbors shaking hands and exchanging high fives.

And Victor Hoffman looked down on it all with a grim frown.

Normally, he'd be down there clicking his heels with the rest of them. But reports from logistics in the storerooms had yielded bad news at the height of the triumph brought on by Naruto, Pad and Samuel.

Another break in. This time, three days rations for a Gear gone. That's a week for a civilian. The bald commander growled under his breath and examined the file before him. With several mortars from both commandos and the Indie incursions raining down time and again, there were bound to be collapsed walls and fragile structures. Even though his Gears were all sharp eyes, they couldn't keep every building secure when walls started coming down.

CIC had already sent a message to Alderman Casani, though Hoffman felt that his presence was only a courtesy at best. Casani was the head of the civilian government of Anvegad, a glorified mayor when it all boiled down to it. And now, he had to set an example.

The door slammed open as Casani stormed in. His hair had receded from the top of his head and encircled it like an old time friar, a huge bald spot surrounded by a circle of hair and sideburns. The alderman had a strained look on his face, as if Hoffman had told an offensive joke that wasn't very funny.

"You caught him, then?" He asked with a frown. Hoffman nodded, suspecting a conflict right from the beginning. Casani winced as he mulled over the fact that someone had been stealing food, and it gave Hoffman a window for explanation.

"I've got three suspects in custody. We're searching their homes right now. I'm heading down to interrogate them." He grabbed his soft cap and strode to the door, Casani falling in step just behind him.
"Once you figure out who stole the rations, then what? You'll execute someone for starving?" The alderman sounded like he was straddling the line between incredulous and stupefied. Hoffman decided to push him to the incredulous side.

"You know as well as I do that the Gears guarding this fort need every calorie they can get. Stealing from them puts EVERYONE in danger." Hoffman didn't even turn to say it, he just kept stomping toward the lower dungeon area with the mouse of a Kashkuri mayor behind him.

"These people don't have much left! Can you blame them for stealing food? Most of them are dying from dysentery, extreme weight loss, even cholera in some sections. Do you really want to add execution to the list?!" Casani seemed hysterical now, and in any other situation Hoffman would have given him credit for his persistence. However, this was a special case.

The lieutenant stopped at an iron door, three floors down from his office. He gave Casani a level stare, indecisive about whether or not he should snarl.

"What I want to do was taken out of the equation the second those rations left the storehouse." He said, daring Casani to interrupt. " The ration protocols are the best anyone's going to get, and reducing the amount of food available, for whatever reason, screws over everyone else." The door squealed open on rusty hinges before Casani could reply. The two walked in quickly, and found two Gears standing over a seated man, his hands cuffed and his head down. Casani paused as he took in the man's features: grizzled, short brown hair; sideburns and full beard with gaunt cheekbones. The man's eyes were closed, as if he had already accepted the inevitable. As Hoffman looked down on him, he wondered if the man really had.

"Oh, Geril." Casani said with a bleak grimace. The man finally looked up, gaunt eyes empty and devoid of purpose. Yes, he knew his death was at hand.

"I had to do it. I won't apologize for it." He said in a raspy voice. Hoffman closed his eyes and sighed heavily; this was why he had wanted to stay enlisted. He had killed men, before, dozens of times, but this would be different.

"Victor, stop this!" Casani pleaded from his side. And suddenly, Hoffman's anger boiled up to the surface.

"I'm not calling him a fucking Indie, Alderman! He stole food from Gears sworn to protect him and everyone else in this fort!" His nostrils flared even as Casani stepped back, yielding immediately.

"I understand why he did it. I sympathize with him. But we all have to make do, and I can't let a crime like this go unpunished." That cold feeling began welling up in Victor's gut; he'd drawn it out long enough. The guy deserved a quick and painless end.

"What about his kids?!" Casani was grasping for straws now, and he knew it. "They go from starving to fatherless and starving because of your rules?" Hoffman pulled his sidearm as an answer, and he leveled his gaze to meet Geril Atar's hollow eyes.

"Geril Lativius Atar," Hoffman said in short, clipped tone, " you have been accused of and admitted to an act of injurious theft as defined by the Military Emergency Measures Act. By stealing rations intended for Coalition soldiers, you have impeded their ability to defend the COG and themselves. The penalty for such a crime is death, and in the name of the Chairman of the Coalition of Ordered Governments, I shall now carry out that sentence." In the very rear corner of his mind, Hoffman was disappointed at his last rites. The man deserved so much more. "Have you anything to say before the sentence is carried out?"

Atar looked up and toward Casani, who was pale and stiff as he anticipated the inevitable act. The man's face relaxed and he actually grinned though there was no humor in the expression.

"Watch over my boys for me, will you?" He asked. It was a dirty thing, Hoffman decided. Here he was, about to execute a man who had been looking out for his family, and his last words had been to pass on the duty. Casani swallowed audibly at the implications, but managed a shaky nod. With that said, Atar bowed his head once more and closed his eyes.

Hoffman nodded and moved forward, pressing the muzzle to the back of Geril's head. Straight through the back, and the man wouldn't feel a thing. Humane. It still didn't make Hoffman feel any better.

BLAM!

The sound echoed in the small cell they were in, but it seemed to haunt Hoffman for a spell before dissipating. A foul taste welled up in his mouth as he stared down at Geril Atar's lifeless corpse. Even though he had rationalized it to the very man he'd executed, Victor just couldn't think of a decent reason for what had just happened. A small part of him argued for accepting the losses and letting the man go. But he had a duty to his men, who had played by the rules. Atar hadn't, even if his cause was justified.

It's just an ugly situation. Hoffman though with a sigh. And it doesn't seem to be getting any better. He looked over to Casani, but the local politician was gone. In fact, Hoffman could hear the faint sounds of retching in the hallway. The scene had obviously gotten to him.

Hoffman gave Atar one last look before turning and walking out the door, closing it behind him in a pathetic attempt at reverence.

When he turned around to comfort Casani, he found the man on the receiving end of a hard glare from none other than Naruto. The balding man was visible shaking under the scrutiny of Naruto's gaze, and the blonde man's whiskers seemed a bit more defined than usual. If anything, it made him seem primal in his contempt toward the shaking mayor in front of him.

"That man died trying to feed his children, Alderman." Naruto said in a cold voice. Casani said nothing, he just sat there and whimpered as the blonde's eyes bore into his very soul.

"He defied law and man to bring food to his family, and he paid a price. That is a sacrifice, not an execution."

Naruto pointed a single finger to the southern end of the hallway, and far beyond where the UIR forces were camped.

"The men out there will do the same thing Hoffman just did, and they will not stop there. It will be men and women, young and old; anyone here when they storm the fort will either repel them or be exterminated." His hand fell from the south and grasped the alderman's slumped form, pulling him up to stare Casani right in the eye.

"You have to make a choice, Alderman. Either your people survive by following the rules, or you take your chances with the UIR. There is no middle ground." With that, the former Hokage released his simpering captive and turned his eyes to Hoffman, who wore a stubborn bulldog frown.

"I appreciate the PR attempt, but I think blowing a citizen's brains out did enough to scare him." Hoffman said with half a glare. Naruto didn't offer an immediately reply, but rather threw something the size of a thrashball onto the filthy gray tiled floor. Hoffman's head blocked the light for a second, and he stooped down to illuminate the object.

It was a human hand, neatly severed at the wrist, and still clutching a radio. It was wrapped in a fingerless glove, with Gorasnayan writing across the back and a single red star. The fresh blood that gushed from the still twitching limb made Hoffman's scalp tighten in a mix of disgust and surprise.

"The rest of this guy and three others are in the morgue." Naruto said with a snarl. "They were creeping around the civilian quarter, planting explosives and mapping the place out. I found them when they were trying to silence Taylor as she tried to sound the alarm." he glanced away for a second at the mention of the Corva pilot, and in another situation Hoffman would have chuckled. Odds were, she had been following him around.

"Have you secured the explosives?" Hoffman asked urgently. A remote detonator wasn't out of the question, and the ones the Indies used had quite a bit of range to them. Naruto nodded.

"The guy this hand belongs to was quite talkative once he realized who he was dealing with. Most of the charges were still in his pack, but I scooped up eight of them in a purely civilian sector." In the dim light, Hoffman could've sworn Naruto's eyes flashed red for a split second. "They've given up on shaking the troops; they're targeting the noncombatants now."

That was bad news. Attacking his Gears was one thing; for better or worse, they knew what they had signed on for. Gutting a civvie whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time... it was dirty and honorless, but it did wonders against morale. It also meant a perimeter breach somewhere.

"Alright, let's get moving." Hoffman growled and stomped forward, brushing past Naruto and the now silent alderman. The blonde followed close behind, leaving Casani with a dead citizen in the cell behind him and a disembodied hand on the floor.

"I hate to ask favors, Naruto, but this new changes means one thing; we have to get the civilians out of here." Hoffman knew that would take some effort by more than just the blonde hot on his heels, but Naruto was a linchpin in anything he was involved in.

"I said I wouldn't fight your wars," Naruto said with a smirk. "But I never said I wouldn't help. I've got a few ideas on how to get them out of here." Victor remained silent, and Naruto took it as a sign to continue.

"Have you received any contact from them? Demands of surrender, or anything like that?" Naruto doubted they had, but to his surprise Hoffman nodded.

"During your little beauty rest after the helicopter fiasco, they called in and offered a trade: the civilians go free if we surrender. I told them to stuff it, so I'm not sure if the offer still stands."

Together, they ascended the final staircase and half walked, half ran to the medical area. As they went, Gears rushed past them as well, all loaded down with full combat Gear. Naruto's find had definitely rang some alarms. Hoffman knew it was a bittersweet reaction; it meant that his men were reacting to the situation without needing his counsel, but it was also likely that the Indies knew the jig was up.

"Exactly how dead are these guys?" Hoffman asked. Considering Naruto's talk of parley, a dead team of commandos wouldn't exactly swing in their favor. Mutilated corpses would just exacerbate the situation. Luckily, Naruto saw the question coming.

"Two broken necks, a stab wound to the face, and blood loss. Open caskets all around, with a little doctoring, of course." That was reassuring. The more Hoffman had to bargain with, the better.

"So what's your plan?" Naruto didn't answer as they reached the medical area. Chief Rosa was there, along with a very shaken 2nd Lt. Wilkins. The young pilot's eyes were wide as she relayed the horrid events, and they came in just as she uttered the words, "...-eed to find Mr. Naruto. There were five of..." She trailed off as Hoffman and Naruto walked in, both suddenly very interested in what she had to say. To her credit, she still saluted Hoffman when she saw him, but her attention immediately went to Naruto.

"There was another Indy!" She said hurriedly. "When I was getting dragged off, another one broke off from the group. He's still out there in the civilian quarter." Her breath still came with a few gasps, and suddenly the cut on her cheek and black eye weren't such frivolous injuries. Both of the men reeled, but Naruto reacted faster. He was out the door and building hopping before Hoffman could turn around. Instead of giving chase, he kept his attention on Taylor.

"What did they look like, Lieutenant?" He asked as gently as was physically possible for Victor Hoffman. "Were they commandos, some kind of special forces unit?" Taylor bit her lip and shook her head sadly.

"The first thing I saw was an arm, and that's what they used to cover my eyes, sir. They didn't sound Gorasnayan though. More like they were from Berephus or Ostri."

A long sigh escape Hoffman's pursed lips. While Gorasnaya fielded the most tenacious of the UIR forces, Ostri was home to some of the most cunning Indies to walk the planet. If there was one still on the loose, even with Naruto tracking him down he could still do unspeakable damage.

The fort's civilian quarter was a compact and elevated section of the town, with several apartments and two-floor flats that the locals had lived in for ages. Therefore, it wasn't difficult for Naruto to find the general area that the operative was in. He decided to go to the alley, where he had first stopped the Indy commandos from silencing Taylor. He reached the area in under a minute, though it was more due to the town's compact design than his speed. He quickly made four clones, one for each cardinal direction, and sent them off to search the area. With that done, he immediately took the quickest route to the Byrne residence, a second floor flat near the market where Sam and Sheraya were currently enjoying Sam's off duty hours.

Naruto focused on the seal he had carved into the area normally hidden by their bathroom door, which was usually kept open unless someone was using the restroom or bathing. Sheraya had been very cross when she'd found it, but he'd bribed her with some ill-gotten ice cream and all had been forgiven.

He disappeared in a flash of yellow light and found himself inside the bathroom, dark and not in use. As stealthy as he was, he wasn't quiet enough to hide the sound of his feet slamming into the floor. Of course, breaking the laws of physics tended to have some minor setbacks.

As he righted himself and slipped into the narrow corridor, Sam emerged from the shared bedroom, a pistol gripped in his hand. When he saw that it was Naruto, a small small spread across his face, and he let the gun fall to his side immediately.

"It's alright, dear," He said to Sheraya, who Naruto could barely see behind him. "It's just our local ninja coming for a visit." Sheraya's pregnancy had made her swell up quite a bit, and along with a humorous waddle as she moved from place to place, she had also acquired a very short temper.

"Honestly, you'd think you could put a frickin' alarm on it or something?! I was right in the middle of a nap." The expecting mother half snarled, half moaned. Sam's chuckle was a bit strained, as his wife's moods had begun to grate slightly, but it was silenced when Naruto's serious expression didn't change. Considering Naruto was generally the first to crack a joke, a stoic look on his face usually spoke ill.

"Has something happened?" He asked, his normally jovial mood turned professional as if he had simply flicked a switch. Naruto nodded, looking around for any signs of intrusion.

"A couple of UIR commandos snuck into the town. I got all but one of them, and he's still in the area. I came to make sure he hadn't gotten you two." Sam's face got a little pale, and even Sheraya was brought out of her funk.

"Oh my goodness." She gasped, her eyes traveling between her husband and Naruto. "Was anyone hurt?" Naruto nodded, but he held up a hand in reassurance as her eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

"Wilkins has a few scrapes, but other than that the only ones hurt are the dead guys I put into the morgue." He looked around again. "Are you guys sure you haven't heard anything?"

Sam and Sheraya both shook their heads, but Sam was already grabbing for his gear. He had one arm through his shirt before Naruto's firm grip on his arm stopped him. He looked Naruto dead in the eye, defiance blazing as he pulled against the shinobi's grasp.

"I don't need the rabble that a full on manhunt would stir up." Naruto implored, but Sam jerked his arm from Naruto's grasp.

"I'm not just going to sit here! That guy could be killing people out there!" He began changing again, but this time it was Sheraya's pleading eyes that stopped him.

"Please, Sam." She begged, her eyes firm as she blocked the door. "Normally, I'd be able to handle myself, but it's not just two of us anymore." She reluctantly glanced at her bulging belly, and Samuel's gaze softened instantly. His honor and duty compelled him to search for the intruder, but his responsibility as a husband and father ruled that he should protect his family.

"I've got this covered, just make sure he doesn't get in here." Naruto said, stomping down the stairs. Hurried steps stopped him, however, and he turned to see Sam's gaze burning into him.

"Curb his face for me." The man said with conviction that would make an Uchiha blush. Y'know, if they weren't all DEAD. Naruto nodded solemnly, then disappeared, focusing on another seal farther away. Sam marched dutifully back to his wife in their bedroom, and then wrapped her up in a protective hug. Even if he couldn't protect his honorary family, he'd be damned if an Indy bastard hurt his wife and child.

When Naruto flashed away, he found himself on top of a tall chimney, a high point near the market district that provided ample view of the area, even if it wasn't necessarily discreet. He stood there motionlessly, his coat still even in the stiff breeze as he examined the area beneath him for the rogue commando. If Naruto had anything to bet, he'd say the man had ditched his clothing for more natural colors, and there was a possibility that he had killed someone and was walking around in their clothes.

And since they don't have chakra, I can't just sense him out. He thought with a frustrated growl. As he stood high above the town, a particularly pungent smell of garbage and refuse blew past his sensitive nose, making him crinkle it up and snort to clear the terrible aroma. And then it hit him.

Kiba and the other Inuzuka Clan members were well known for tracking not just because of their nindogs, but their nearly godlike sense of smell. Naruto had picked it up from Kurama's interference with his biology, and had spent a decade mastering it to the point that he could walk around without nose plugs.

The thing about a person's scent is that it is like a fingerprint; it can be similar, but no two people have the same smell. And when people live close together, they have many similarities. But one guy out there was not a local.

Even if the man was wearing the clothes of a native, his base scent wouldn't change; it would take weeks for him to properly hide from Naruto's nose. And so, Naruto took in a deep breath, and surveyed the area around him, closing his eyes to concentrate.

An overwhelming range of scents and aromas assaulted his senses, and at first he struggled to categorize them. Soon enough, experience kicked in and he began to sift through them as if they were papers in a file, searching for the right one, the odor that was out of place.

Spoiled meat, old leather... sweat, a little bit of blood, gun smoke... there you are.

The scent wafted lazily from the west, and a simple shunshin put him on the ground in a flurry of leaves. Once he was there, the odors became more intense and varied, but he held on to the original scent. The smell of an intruder.

Using speed born from nearly a century of shinobi training, Naruto flew over the streets, adhering to walls and rooftops with his chakra as he went. The odor grew stronger as he got closer, flying over the market square and soon into the slated rooftops of the residential area. Here, a stronger and more varied allotment of human excrement assaulted his nostrils, but he could still smell the foreign scent of a man who had been in the walls for only a few days.

The presence within the residential concerned him; it had only been twenty to thirty minutes since he'd apprehended (killed) the team as they attacked Wilkins in the heart of the market's lower areas. For the lost sheep of the UIR squad to both slip away, camouflage, and cross half the town within that time, it meant he was either very lucky or very good.

Since he had managed to dupe Naruto, the blonde shinobi had to assume it was because the guy was good. He and his father combined didn't have the luck to slip past a former Hokage and cross fourteen blocks of busy, filthy street without raising any eyebrows. Therefore, he was immediately on alert.

Once he got closer to the origin of the odor, he descended to ground level. The surviving populace of Anvegad (despite his and Hoffman's best efforts, civilians had been lost) had grown used to him bouncing around at high speeds. The fact that he was doing so much more urgently than usual was lost on them, however.

An idea occurred to him as he examined his surroundings. The locals were used to his more general shinobi antics, if they could be called that, but this newcomer would be flabbergasted and most likely frightened. If he could coax a reaction out of someone close to the origin of the odor, he'd have a near certain identification.

All he had to do was spook out his prey.

And for the first time in years, Naruto Namikaze began to stalk his quarry as a fox would stalk a deer mouse.

Imrov Zagala had done several intrusions like this. His father, a medical doctor, would liken it to a prion. A small microprotein so simple and unchanged in its evolution that it must be passively ingested, allowed into the body rather than infecting it. Once inside, however, a prion can cause multiple deadly conditions. And here he was, passing through the body of Anvegad undetected. His destination was clear: the old fort command center.

One would have assumed he'd take civilian clothes as a disguise. But that would get him caught. He had not reached the rank of Captain by doing what was expected. He strode through the residential section with no fear of being stopped. His newly acquired COG armor and uniform shined in the dying sunlight. The guard had been unprepared, a sorry state for a guard to be in. He'd slipped a knife between the man's plates and into his chest cavity before the Gear had known what was happening. The armor was a bit heavier than what he was used to, but the helmet was surprisingly easy to see out of.

The ancient sewer systems were a blessing when it came to hiding a body. No one would see the man's corpse floating down a dark tunnel underneath the city. By the time he was done, there wouldn't be any survivors anyway.

The call had come down the previous night, and judging by how white Major Stromov's face had gotten, High Command was getting impatient. He could see their problem: why was a small garrison taking so long to pacify? The battle at Shavad was had waned into defeat, and the forces committed to taking Anvegad were needed elsewhere. The answer had been found not in combat, but in rumor.

The special forces teams that dwelled within the rocks above Anvegad were dwindling every day, but one thing they transmitted was consistent. Every time a civilian was killed or injured, a UIR soldier died. Normally, Imrov would chalk this up to the COG's deluded sense of righteousness. But the reports were the same all around: a strange blonde man would somehow slaughter squads of specially trained commandos without firing a shot. Imrov had seen the strange knives embedded in the bodies brought back.

As such, the Major had been prompt in his decision making: destroy the command center. Several pounds of explosive were easy to hide in a besieged castle, particularly one filled with garbage and unburned bodies. All he had to do was sneak his team inside, plant the explosives, and stand by outside the blast radius until he got the all clear to blow Anvegad off the map.

But complications had arisen. He had split off from his team, both to insure against mission failure and to survey the inner workings of the area. He had done so just in time to watch his team get slaughtered before they could silence a female COG officer.

The blonde man had been swift, he had been strong, but most of all he had been completely silent. Imrov's men had been dragged off into the darkness of the tight alleys so quickly, it was as if there were several assailants. But every time, it had been the man from before.

With his team down, Imrov had been forced to take extra measures. He'd reallocated some of the explosives around the market, as if he had been tossing bottles of whiskey into the trash heaps. They'd brought too much for the job anyway.

And now, the entire market square was littered with charges that ran to his detonator. He hadn't even planted them; Imrov had just tossed them like so much garbage that already littered the entire city.

The commando looked up suddenly, a commotion coming from the small square behind him. The area in front of the main access to the upper echelon of the fort was simply a small, unimportant square with only a tiny well in the center. And upon that well stood a man in a flowing white battle coat and long blonde hair. The one that had been wiping out UIR forces since the beginning of the siege. The one that had killed his men. And now he was using some sort of magic to manipulate the water from the well into the form of a dragon, its twisting serpentine body twirling around him like a snake. The three or four other people in the square, including a bald man in a soft cap and armor, all smirked and clapped at the scene.

But the blonde man was not focused on his audience, or the alien creation that circled so closely to him that it wet his coat. His piercing blue eyes were locked on Imrov, and the pistol the UIR commando had unconsciously gripped at the sight of him.

Before Captain Zagala could recover from his instinctive but careless mistake, the water dragon had dissipated into its more natural form, and the blonde man was in his face. An iron grip caught Imrov's hand before he could release the pistol, and his attacker kept the limb firmly secured behind his back.

"Lieutenant, I think I found our missing wolf." The blonde man said with a feral grin. "And he's wearing one of your sheep."

Suddenly, the bald man in the soft cap became much more important in Imrov's opinion. He walked over to where Naruto held the commando captive and ran his eyes over the name tag.

"Hollis was a good man." Hoffman said with a growl. "He ran the guns and the sappers here like a family. And I'm guessing you killed him."

Naruto removed Captain Zagala's stolen helmet, revealing his still balaclava-clad face to the chilly mountain air. If reading his commandeered armor's name tag had angered Hoffman, seeing Imrov's face must have infuriated him.

"I've sat in this fort for four goddamn months, watching my men die and the civilians under my protection starve. I've seen a pregnant woman refuse extra rations so that her husband can better protect his colleagues and MY charges. And here you are, fucking it all up."

Hoffman grabbed Imrov from Naruto's grasp, jerking him up by the collar with enough force to get rid the pistol and the shinobi's iron grasp.

"I'll be damned if I see any more of your spec ops bullshit kill any more of our people! And I'll make sure you burn." By now, the two men were nose to nose. Victor Hoffman's infamous rage barking into the eerily calm visage of a veteran commando. And then Imrov smiled.

"If you'll be damned and I'm gonna burn, then I guess you'll be seeing me again." Imrov said with a smirk. And his free hand suddenly wasn't so free. Instead, a small detonator was clasped firmly in his grip. He had hidden it in his gauntlet, a small space in between armor and glove. And Hoffman watched him depress the lever.

The market square wasn't far. The blast wave and the heat knocked everyone in the square onto their bellies. Hoffman's grasp was knocked loose by the explosion, sending Imrov down to the ground with them. A grim silence immediately followed the explosion as everyone in Anvegad struggled to ascertain exactly what had happened. All except for two: Naruto and Captain Zagala.

The UIR commando was already on his feet and two steps out before the everyone else had recovered. Naruto looked up to see the sky wrought with flame, a column of orange and black smoke rising from the market square. There had been many civilians there. They'd been going about their own business, trying to survive in a war they had no true part in. They'd survived a drought, rampant disease, and brutal food rationing. And now they were scattered all over the square.

The lack of sound after a major explosion, commonly known as shell shock, stunned Hoffman as he picked himself up from the cobblestone. That high pitched ringing he had become so familiar with in the months of shelling and bombs filled his head, leaving his eyes, nose, and touch to fill in the missing blanks his ears had left for him.

Another spray of red, one separate from the explosion, crossed his vision. But he was looking away from the square.

The strange three-pronged knife that Naruto was so well known for had lodged itself deep into Zagala's left calf muscle. The commando went down with a muffled cry of pain, sprawling onto the cobblestone headlong. Before he could so much as twitch, a sandal-clad foot found its way to the back of his neck, pinning him to the ground with all the authority of God himself. The force applied made Zagala wince, unable to remove the irksome dagger from his own leg for fear of losing all control of his body from the neck down.

Naruto's normally impassive eyes were alight with rage, his whiskers seeming much thicker in the flickering light cast by the still burning marketplace. His mouth was set in a thin line, his usual grin gone with the victims, though no trace of it was floating down in ash. He grasped the kunai and twisted it roughly, illiciting a cry of pain from the downed commando. Before Naruto could do any more, the Gears were on their feet quickly, three of them clamoring to pin down the bastard who had just fragged their friends.

Hoffman stepped in between Naruto and Zagala, certain that it was a purely symbolic gesture. Naruto, however, wanted nothing to do with it all. He stepped away, instead facing the rising column of smoke that now hung over Anvegad as a black omen. Hoffman looked down at Zagala with a sneer almost akin to a snarling dog, his pistol firmly in hand.

"I executed a civilian for stealing food today," He said darkly, glaring holes into the still gasping Zagala's eye sockets. "A man I had lived next to for months. That's something that will probably haunt me until they put my ass in the ground. But shooting you?" He pressed the firearm between Imrov's eyes with all the authority of God himself. "I'll never regret."

POW!

Zagala's eyes rolled back into his head as it snapped back, and the Gears dropped him like the sack of shit they perceived him to be. Hoffman watched the blood leak from the man's fatal wound for a second, then sighed heavily. He had failed to protect his charges again. The siege had cost him men, resources, and civilians, but now he was just so tired of it all. Victor holstered his weapon and stepped over beside Naruto as the Gears dragged Zagala's body away.

The blonde man said nothing as the two watched Anvegad burn, both facing inner turmoil but neither willing to break the silence. Finally, however, Hoffman's sense of duty forced him to do so.

"I'm not asking you to come to our side," He said without looking at Naruto, "but we have got to get these people out of here. Sheraya, Wilkins, the doc... they don't belong here."

Again, nothing from the tall blonde beside him. Still, Hoffman was talking now; he might as well finish and get to the request.

"The Indies offered safe passage for the civilians if we surrendered as well. I plan on taking that bargain."

This time, Naruto did look at him, some glint of surprise piercing his glare. Hoffman's mouth twisted into a grim smile, but there was no mirth in his words.

"I'll let you escort the civvies out of here, then lock the doors on them and burn the bastards alive. We'll keep the fort, and you'll evac the noncombatants. I'm sure we can both agree they have no place here."

"This is their home." Naruto finally said, locking eyes with Hoffman. "They'll want to return." Alderman Casani's distressed face crossed Hoffman's mind for a split second, but he shook his head clear of the image.

"The town can be rebuilt. Once you get them out and we clean house, they can come back. I just can't stand to lose another civvie to dysentery, mortars, or this." He gestured with disgust toward the bomb site. Naruto nodded, crossing his arms in the dying light. The choice was made before he ever spoke.

"I'll do my best to make sure they survive." He said lowly. Hoffman could accept that; they both knew by that evening's events that promises were off the table. And so they watched, as the place they had come to call home smoldered just before night fell over Kashkur.