With his sleeve Genma wiped the sweat from his eyes, blinked several times to clear them and focused again on the work directly above his head.
"More light, Kakashi," he murmured past his senbon. Although his small headlamp illuminated the narrow shaft and the object in front of him, it was very convenient to have Hatake Kakashi, the copy ninja of a thousand jutsus, with all his useful skills at hand. All sexy muscles and deadly competence… Well, that really wasn't helpful for Genma's concentration at all. The tokubetsu jounin took a deep breath to regain his focus. He had to diffuse a complex bomb jutsu. Even the smallest mistake could have fatal consequences.
A flicker of chakra and a coulpe of hand signs later and a few glowing butterflies fluttered gently over to Genma, illuminating the narrow space of the sewer pipe notably but without dazzling, and he couldn't help the small smile.
"Perfect."
Kakashi waited patiently for Genma's next instructions but that seemed to be all at the moment. Although he was the captain of their ANBU-team, it was Genma's field of expertise to diffuse this special kind of jutsu. It was one of the secret clan techniques of the Shiranui. After detecting the jutsu he took his role as watchdog. It would have been nice to sit down or lean against one of the walls, but everything at this place was dirty, smelling terribly and disgusting. He took another moment to watch his teammate, who was currently on his back, a few inches deep in a subterranean shaft of the local sewers, focused on defusing the complex bomb jutsu.
Then the copy nin turned back to watch the corridor. It was not to be expected that the shinobi who created the jutsu would come back again soon, but you never knew. So he listened with one ear if Genma needed further help, with the other he paid attention to the corridor.
They had discovered the jutsu about 15 minutes ago. Kakashi's ability as a tracker along with the over-sensitive snouts of his faithful ninken had proven to be the gold-right choice of Sandaime on this ANBU-mission, even though the stench of the sewage had persuaded Kakashi to send his dogs home. Except for Pakkun. He was doing another job at the moment.
It was disgustingly warm down here and the stench was making Kakashi feel a little lightheaded. Sweat had started to run down his face minutes ago. The sooner they finished this job the better. He glanced over his shoulder. According to the tokubetsu, the jutsu didn't have a timer but was controlled via some kind of jutsu signal from afar. It could explode every minute… He could see Genma's tense and highly concentrated expression in the blue light of the bomb and the soft yellow light of his butterfly jutsu. The calmness the Shiranui radiated deeply impressed him. He inherited several secret clan techniques, poison and senbons were the better known. In Genma's case, however, add some nice sensory skills and the ability to master the secret clan technique for different explosive jutsus, and you got this special kind of expert for this situation. Kakashi wondered briefly if there was anyone else in Konoha who would have been suited to be sent on this mission with him.
"Alright ...", Genma murmured, interrupting his thoughts. His hands formed various finger signs, blue chakra signatures lit up along the bomb, changed their shape and finally formed a new, complex network of glowing lines. Then Genma took the senbon out of his mouth and cut through the paper jutsu stuck to the front of the bomb. The blue chakra glow died down.
With a deep breath Genma relaxed noticeable and signaled to Kakashi that it was over. He pushed himself out of the shaft, sighed and sat against the wall, stretching out his long legs. With well-known exercises he relaxed and kneaded the soreness out of his arms and hands. Routine.
Kakashi felt himself relaxing as well. A smile crossed his face, and he rubbed the back of his head. "Well done, Genma."
Said man exhaled. His brown eyes shot up and watched Kakashi closely. "Thing is, the problem's still not out of the world." Carefully he lifted his left foot and Kakashi noticed a fine thin wire there, which had previously been hidden under the filthy ground.
Inevitably, Kakashi held his breath, formed a hand sign and traced the almost invisible line of wire, which was now revealed in bright blue before his eye. It led down the next corridor. He swallowed. With the help of the copied jutsu he could see that a whole network of wires passed through the sewers.
In the distance the sounds from the marketplace above them could be heard. "Well, no rest for the wicked, huh?"
His eyes slid from the wires back to Genma who answered him with a wry grin. "If we survive this, I want to go to that festival up there."
Kakashi cocked his head to the side. "I didn't know you were interested in the Tanabata festival." Kakashi put a thoughtful finger on his lips. "It's considered to be a really romantic tradition…"
Genma let his head drop against the slightly damp wall, completely ignoring that he undoubtedly got unspeakble things and dirt on his hair, and closed his eyes for a moment. A fine smile played his lips before disappearing just as quickly. Whatever thought had crossed his mind, he must have thought it would be best not to share it with Kakashi. Instead, he asked, "How many?"
"Five," Kakashi answered, holding up five fingers just in case.
Genma swallowed slowly. Five more bombs to diffuse. And he was already tired from the first one. "Next time our client doesn't want to evacuate a festival and I start running to diffuse it instead of warning everyone because there is no time, please stop me." Then he nodded solemnly, grabbed Kakashi's helpfully outstretched forearm and let his captain pull him onto his feet.
"Kagebunshin no jutsu!"
Four more Genmas appeared next to them. And so they set about defusing the rest of the bomb-jutsus threatening the tanabata-festival in Hakone.
Kakashi was carrying Genma over his shoulder while marching down the dark corridors of the Hakone sewers. Shortly before the exit Aoba met with them, a scarf pressed firmly over his nose. He didn't need to be told what happened. Without hesitation, he stretched out his arms and Kakashi handed him Genma's limp body.
Aoba silently nodded to the right and Kakashi followed him. They quickly left the sewers and reached their hotel via several detours and back alleys. Aoba laid Genma carefully down on his bed, Kakashi helped, absentmindedly rubbing some filth out of Genma's hair.
Only now Aoba dared to speak. "Nobody followed you. I observed all entrances to the sewers that my birds could find. Nothing."
Kakashi nodded and again looked thoughtfully at Genma's calm and even face. "Pakkun has found our target's track." He plopped down on the second bed, arms on his thighs, ready to strike at every time, never sloppy during a mission. "We'll have to wait till he returns."
Aoba nodded and loosened the protectors on his arms a little to absentmindedly scratch an itch underneath and carefully stretched his neck. "How good is he?"
"Genma said the jutsus were enough to blow up all four marketplaces. Ingenious. And because of the festival the casualties would have been high. The explosives were cleverly placed. He really is good. But we still don't know if it was just a threat for blackmailing Hakone's mayor, to remind him of some secret contract or if it was really meant to be an act of terror. Either way, he might be still nearby."
Aoba nodded grimly and put his arm protector back on. He took a glance at Genma through his sunglasses. "Nice to have our own expert on our side. I still have a bit of that uneasy feeling of having to search a city that might explode every second under my feet. I never wish to experience that again. Also seeing all those potential victims everywhere, carefree, laughing…" Aoba pinched the bridge of his nose and stopped himself. Becoming emotional wouldn't help at all in their situation. Though he wasn't an ANBU, he still was a tokubetsu jounin. But he was still shaken from that experience. Aoba could have done with some of Genma's breathing techniques. Which reminded him of… "How bad is he?"
Genma chose that moment to open his eyes. "Not that bad," he mumbled. "Wasn't unconscious. Just tired."
Kakashi got up from his bed and knelt down at his side. "Nice to have you back with us."
Genma put an arm over his eyes, groaning against the light of the dim candle. "Was just tired… As for the festival ..."
Aoba raised an eyebrow.
"... I still want to go there."
Kakashi snorted. Then he grinned and put Genma's ANBU mask over his face, effectively blocking the light and the other sighed softly.
They waited for almost ten minutes. Aoba had taken position next to the window, carefully squinting outside through the curtains.
Still he seemed a little taken off guard when something knocked gently on the glass. He hurried to open the window and let the little dog Pakkun in.
"Yo," the pug lifted a paw in greeting. "I found him. He is on his way to the lake."
Genma swung his legs over the edge of the bed and rummaged awkwardly through his breast pocket for a soldier-pill. Without a comment Kakashi held one of his own in front of Genma's face. Their eyes met.
So Genma grimly accepted the offered object and immediately chewed on it – though with reluctance. "What if he meets there with others? You'll probably need me," he muttered.
Aoba exchanged a quick glance with Kakashi. It took a few seconds before the silver-haired team-leader nodded. "Hold yourself back, keep distance. If something happens, no risks, leave it to us!", he instructed.
Genma gave a mock salute and got onto his feet. "Let's go."
The calm surface of Ashino-ko Lake as shimmering in the light of the full moon. Heavy clouds were moving across the sky, turning the night into an especially dark one. Crickets chirped, a few mice darted through the dry leaves of the forest floor below while an owl hooted.
Nothing betrayed their presence. Pakkun led them, Kakashi and Aoba close and soundlessly behind him, and with some distance, Genma followed.
As Pakkun suddenly came to a halt, Aoba stopped breathing and stopped abruptly. He did not have to turn around to know that the others were hiding in the shadows behind him. His heart pounded loudly in his ears. He tried hard to see something. But the forest remained a shadowy mystery, the leaves like a thick cover above their heads, the lake calm before them. He could vaguely guess the outline of the big red gate of the Jinja-Shrine. All sounds faded into the background.
He knew they were being watched. He could feel it.
But he could see nothing.
A shiver ran down his spine, and he felt the tingling tension of adrenaline that usually built up in his body when a fight was ahead. His fingers tightened around the familiar grip of the kunai which had found its way into his hand as if on its own.
The crickets stopped their chirping.
Complete silence.
Aoba breathed calmly and decided to take a careful step forwards when a voice suddenly hissed: "Stop!" Genma appeared beside Aoba out of nowhere and grabbed him by the shoulder. With his other hand he blew a very fine blue dust into the air, which he always carried in one of his special pockets of his ANBU-west, and Aoba could see in it the blue shimmer of a chakra wire, spread like a spiderweb through the trees. A whole network, a few meters in front of the lake.
Aoba's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. Another bomb-jutsu?
Genma put a finger to his mouth and gently pulled his teammate back from the wire. Then the Shiranui sat down cross-legged on the branch and plunged into one of his strange clan-jutsus.
Aoba's legs started trembling, and he had to lean against the stump of the tree, heart pounding loudly in his chest. His eyes searched and found Kakashi a few feet behind them. He noticed Aoba's look and gestured for him to watch over Genma. Then he vanished.
Aoba nodded regardless and merged with the shadows, ready to defend their deeply concentrated comrade who might have just saved his life today - again.
He could see from the shoulder movements that Genma had begun to make complicated hand signs. He would have loved to take a closer look at this secret Shiranui clan technique, but he had to be patient. And his patience was rewarded.
The intricate chakra spider web began to shimmer faintly, eventually dissipating in the air.
Genma opened his eyes again, just in time to see a dark-shining sword and Aoba's kunai clashing a few millimeters before his face. Aoba had just stopped the attack right before Genma's eyes. And just in time.
Then everything happened at the same time. Several explosions nearby, Aoba shouting something, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him behind, Pakkun whining and Kakashi's Raikiri flashing through the moonlit night.
Genma fell head first down the branch he'd been sitting on. Wood splinters hit his face and arms. The impact came hard and sudden. Dazed, he turned on his side and thus missed the kunai which embedded itself into the ground next to him by chance.
He threw himself behind the next tree, pushed himself off the ground and escaped the blast of another explosion. Based on the sounds and their directions he counted at least three opponents.
He crashed hard into a tree, and let his hand glide along it to spontaneously change direction. Behind him, several kunai hit the tree trunk. Panting, he came to his feet, tore his pants and hands on a thorn bush and cursed inwardly. A sudden flash of lightning and a dull sound told him, that Kakashi had just finished off his opponent. Nice, taichou!
The tokubetsu jounin quickly hid behind a large root. Stay back, no risks, he told me. Easier said than done… If not for Kakashi I would have already left ANBU… I am too young for this shit!
Another explosion tore the tree over him to the side. Genma pressed his back into the remaining stump and grabbed one of his faithful kunai. Too young and too good-looking…! He heard the landing of the ninja and sensed the presence of another only a few meters away. Why do I get the feeling they are angry with me for diffusing their friendly jutsus…
He had to wait for the right moment. Kakashi and Aoba couldn't be far away.
Another explosion ripped through the night and Genma abandoned his cover. The enemy ninja, dressed in the dark ANBU-armor of Iwa, was much closer than thought. Genma's senbon silently sank into his throat. The shinobi tipped over like the felled tree.
The second ninja saw what happened and disappeared immediately. Fast!, Genma thought.
Not a heartbeat later the shinobi whirled through the air and sent Genma down with a powerful roundhouse-kick.
A series of explosions shook the ground and the surface of the lake in the distance. Looks like he couldn't expect any help from his comrades at the moment. Well…
In the light of the explosions, Genma was able to see and recognize his opponent. Well shit… The artful silver forehead protector, the blue eyes, the large muscular physique clad in black, six throwing knives clad to his thighs... Genma's lucky streak had come to an end here. Ryu Date was the right hand of the Raikage. And he was clearly several numbers too big for a special jounin. Especially for a special jounin near chakra-depletion.
"Definitely not my day."
With the back of his hand he wiped some blood from his mouth and slowly got onto his feet again. In a blink of an eye Date swept Genma's legs away and pressed him into the ground with a thick muscled forearm against Genma's throat, his body bound by pounds of muscled legs.
Genma was way too exhausted to even come up against so much concentrated power and skill. The next thing he knew he was flung through the air, crashing through several trees and finally coming to rest. He remained on the ground, stunned and bleeding. A sharp black blade nicked his throat as Ryu grabbed his hair and forced Genma to look at him.
"You're the one who destroyed my jutsu-net, right?"
Genma allowed himself a bloody smile. "And all the bombs in Hakone, too."
Ryu's eyes hardened. "You…! No one ever-"
Suddenly the almost deafening chirping of a thousand birds sounded.
"Chidori!"
Ryu let Genma's head drop and jumped back, missing the electronic jutsu by a hair, followed closely by Kakashi. What happened next, Genma could no longer see, but his hair still felt a bit electrocuted by the nearness of his fresh chidori-experience. Aoba landed next to him and helped him stand up. "You alright?"
Genma swore he could still feel the effects of that near death-experience-chidori. He nodded and waved his friends help off.
Aoba also looked pretty battered. "You?", he asked and Aoba held his fingers up: "Perfect." His glasses were cracked, nose bloody.
Pakkun emerged from the shadows. "They are at the lake. Only this one enemy ninja is left. The others are out of commission."
With some difficulty the two men dragged themselves to the lake, just to witness how two great shinobi fought against each other. Jutsus lashed through the lake like a thunderstorm, lightning streaked through the night, fire, wind and water swirled like by the forces of a deity.
Genmas gasped in awe. "Holy shit…"
Aoba swallowed audibly beside him. "We're screwed if we go there…"
The minutes passed and Genma never lost sight of the fight, ready to intervene at any time should there be the opportunity. Breathless, tensed,…
Aoba twitched several times as if to jump in but Genma shook his head.
"They are equal."
"What makes you so sure?"
Genma did not answer immediately, his eyes analyzing every movement. "The jutsus with the bombs must have cost a lot of strength. The chakra-net in the trees probably did not cost much though it must have covered a lot of space. It was very fine and testifies to a ridiculously good chakra control but needs mental strength to keep up. I suspect the lake was intended as a rendezvous point to meet with his ANBU unit. The chakra network was there to unmask and alert potential pursuers. Us.
The amount of chakra I can still feel within both is about the same. Both have strong jutsus and are able to use multiple elements and if I am not overthinking the situation it might be possible to ..."
Suddenly everything was quiet.
The storms ceased, the lake waters calmed down.
Complete silence.
Genma let himself plop down to the floor with a groan. "It's good that Kakashi is our taichou." He grinned lazily. "Others might have thought it necessary to continue this even fight forever…"
Aoba formed a hand sign that allowed him to look through the eyes of one of his birds circling high above the lake.
"Yes, they stopped."
Genma snorted. "I'm surrounded by freaks."
"Says who?", countered Aoba. "They are talking to each other. Looks ... Looks like it's over."
"Are they shaking hands?"
"No…"
"Thank god. That would have been a bit too much after all that bombs and threats…" Genma let himself fall over to stare into the night sky. Calmly, he took a new senbon out of his pouch and into his mouth. "A tie. Here. At Hakone lake. You've got to be kidding, Kakashi-taichou…" Then he closed his eyes.
Aoba winced in surprise. "Weren't you the one to suggest a… Genma! You can't just sleep now ...! What if it was a ruse?! Genma! "
"This is the second time you're making me drag your ass into this bed in one night!" Kakashi grumbled.
Genma shrugged, a little too self-satisfied. "A wonderful experience. Will never forget."
Kakashi stopped and Aoba shook his head and left the room muttering obscenities about freakish ninja to himself and needing to pee.
Genma laughed quietly. Then he tiredly put his hand over his eyes and squinted at Kakashi between his fingers. "You okay?"
Kakashi nodded. "Our powers were about equal and you two were useless. There was no point in continuing the fight. Date admitted, the bomb threat was meant as a reminder to Hakone's mayor not to forget their economic agreement. Hakone's new mayor wanted to cancel an old deal by cheating. Iwa's Daimyo didn't take that so well. So that's now how it is. The agreement will be restored but no further negotiations at the moment. The Hokage will probably make arrangements to stop such threats from others countries to people of the Fire Country in the future. But for now our mission is over." The creaking of the second bed told Genma that Kakashi sat down. He looked up at his now really relaxed taichou again, taking in his battered and torn ANBU-uniform. But all in all, Kakashi seemed fine. It took a genius to survive a genius. "You were incredible out there."
Kakashi blushed. A little. "You, too."
"So ... about the Tanabata festival ..."
Kakashi cocked his head. Then he smiled and produced a green note. "Here. For your wishes. "
Genma's brown eyes widened for a moment, then he raised a slender eyebrow.
Kakashi shrugged. "There were a lot of them down at the hotel reception. And there is only tonight left to find a nice tree to attach it to. Maybe I should fix a Orizuru for your good health ... "
Genma laughed, snatched the note from Kakashi's hand, leaned forward and kissed the other's masked lips. "So you will go with me to the festival," he stated. "Good boy-friend you are. We need a shower and some nice clothes. You still smell like the sewers."
Kakashi pinched the bridge of his sensitive nose. "Look who's talking. Can you even walk?"
Genma shrugged his shoulders and smiled.