Chapter 20:
Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan
- John F. Kennedy
You know those places you find yourselves in. Tight, cramped places, dark and dusty that suffocate the mind and make you doubt the importance of the mission. Yeah, Naru was going to kill the person who had made the insides of the ventilation shafts too damn small. I mean, how in the hell was she going to squeeze her way through, get near enough to the mission control room and manage to stay silent enough to spy on the proceedings
Right next to the fuming girl in orange stood Lee. His large eyebrows furrowed in contemplation as he warily watched his friend out of the corner of one black eye.
Gathering his wits before sighing out, " Come on Naru, we've seen every vent shaft so far. Maybe there is no point of entry big enough to fit you, least of all Hinata-chan or me." He placed a bandaged arm around the shortest shoulder, " lets head back to the room and see if Hinata has found anything useful while we have been gone."
Looking up into Lee's round eyes Naru fought to banish her disappointment She hated to fail.
Nodding, both ninja walked away from the vent and back towards the room team Anko was sharing. "Do you think Hinata has found out anything? Last time we were all down in the archives, all we found was dust and old medicine recipes. I mean, nobody even knew who this man was nor what he was doing for who knows how long. It just seems like the more we dig the less we find." heaving out a heavy sigh, Naru turned to look at her teammate in frustration.
She gave a sigh that did nothing to mask her growing fatigue. It seemed that the more she tried to remain upbeat, the more life seemed to knock her down.
Lee nodded his head.
It wasn't that he was tired persay, no - he could go days with his boundless reserves of youthful energy, Just the emotional toil was finally beginning to show. He felt for his friends, for the village, for the symbol of fire which still burned in the hearts of the Konoha Shinobi.
But Lee was many things and being human topped the list. He was no more able to wish away the growing fear anymore than he was able to move a mountain.
Even he couldn't go on forever.
The hallway seemed to stretch on forever with the painful silence, neither Naru nor Lee knew how to break it. They hated to go on like this.
Lee stopped in front of the room, door wide open and through it he could see Hinata sitting at one of the small beds, a thick book spread out before her He sighed in resignation at such a daunting task, at finding only failure. Tears beaded at the corners of his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Naru looked at her friend out of the corner of her eyes. She knew what he was feeling. After all they should be the ones who were sitting in that meeting, they knew better than anyone of those old farts at what they were facing. It was them after all who lived the terror and humiliation. They were needed, and yet for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why they were being pushed to the back and out of the way.
Lee shrugged.
They both went silent once more. It was a few moments before Naru couldn't take it anymore and threw her hands into the air. Come hell or high water she was going to get into that meeting.
Turning on her heel, she walked away from her room and her teammates.
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In the meeting room sat a large table covered in maps and papers, its huge surface completely hidden by the vast amounts of intel gathered by the brave Shinobi before Konoha fell into the hands of The Shadow. For one Nara Shikaku it was a headache and a hope rolled into one very big, troublesome mess. As a high ranking shinobi and a clan head on top of that, he was versed in all matters of procedures, yet this one eluded him and his large brain.
As a ninja he was sworn to defend his village from attack and harm, to kill and collect evidence for the safety of his people. As a husband and a father he was sworn to protect his family. A family currently missing from his side with no clue on where they could be. There was nothing he wanted more than to go out there and search for them, and yet he knew he could not.
Now here he was holed up in one of the Nara clans bunkers with over a hundred other ninja that had been collected as they fled from the village.
His hands clenched tightly. How fucking pathetic, he was pathetic. What kind of man was he that this could have happened in his own home, his own fucking village. It was the village hidden in the leaves, the safest place for his people and it was attacked, nearly razed to the ground.
Shikaku glanced around the room as Shinobi and civilians alike filed into the large space. A sigh left from chapped lips as he rose from his slouched position against the wall and walked up to the table.
"Thank you for coming. Take a seat, please." black eyes stared at the collection of people as they took what seats were available. "What do we know so far?"
A pale eyed Hyuuga stood from his seat, forehead protecter laying tattered around his neck as he looked at Shikaku, "The few shinobi who have ventured out of the bunker have relayed some of the villages' most damaged areas and what movement the mercenary groups have taken in keeping Konohagakure contained...its not much to go on, seeing as those who are still out there have no eyes on them. We can only make educated guesses as to what has or will become of them, Nara-sama." Bowing slightly, the younger male retook his seat, feature betraying nothing.
Shikaku frowned. The Hyuuga are a powerful clan in their own right, many battles under their belts so to speak. Their eyes being a keen source of power to the village made them very important...still didn't mean he he liked them any better.
Nodding in agreement, "We can only hope that our people have made it to safety...As for our other shinobi, death or imprisonment is their only options at this point until we can make contact on the inside. That being said," His eyes roamed the table, a small glare in them as he looked at the faces around him, "We are not just going to run out of here and resume fighting in the streets!"
Shouts sprang out around the room as people started yelling in one big mess of noise. Pinching the bridge of his nose Shikaku looked over to hs right where a vast majority of the Aburame clan sat, silent and still. Black eyes met darker glasses as the two clan heads stared at each other, no words being exchanged yet a conversation definitely being had.
With a small nod Aburame Shibi lifted up his arm and let loose a black swarm of his beetles fly into the air. The room went quiet as people saw the flying mass of insects swarm about over their heads. When it got calm enough he called them back.
"We should not be so quick to fall apart. The villagers and captured shinobi are relying on our abilities as the last true form of defense for the village. Thus, it would be crucial to atleast plan our next moves carefully, lest we fall amongst those already indisposed." Shibi's monotone voice said.
A quietly uttered troublesome was muttered to the silent room.
With both the jounin commander and the Aburame clan head both here, nobody would go directly against their orders. Especially without the Hokage there to act as the final word on the matter. Still, Shikaku knew it was only a matter of time before one of the hotheads decided to act out. Who that would be, he didn't know.
"We need to plan a counter-attack. Something with a high probability of actually winning." Shikaku looked down at the reports on the table in from of him and sighed. "heres where we should start."
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As the bickering continued around the room, a small brown haired male sat stiffly in his seat. his dark black pants just as tattered as the others, his long-sleeved shirt in the same condition, around his forehead sat a faded blue forehead protecter. Dark brown eyes watched the assembled group bitch and complain with a scowl.
Nothing was going to get done at this rate.
With a shake of his head the young man went back to studying a map of the training districts. Mercs aren't really known for true fighting abilities, atleast not on the same level at which shinobi were trained to. Maybe we don't try the frontal attack, what if we go in through the training grounds. Hypothetically speaking it should be less heavily guarded than anywhere else in the village beside the Hokage monument.
Looking back up at the table, dark brown eyes met Nara Shikakus black stare. Fighting down the impulse to swallow the saliva gathering in his throat, he waited to see what the man would say.
Shikaku looked at the silent young man. He didn't recall ever meeting this boy before, though that wasn't saying anything as he mostly worked with jounin or higher. "You seem very quiet young man, anything you want to share?" his eyes narrowed as the boy looked nervously around him.
The brown-haired male felt his heart stop as the jounin commander called him out. oh when this was over he was going to kill Lee and Hinata for even thinking of this idea in the first place.
Flashback
Naru was just about to walk back to the vents when Lee rushed forward and grabbed her arm.
"Wait a minute will you, oi, Hinata-chan come out here please and help me stop Naru before she goes and gets us in trouble." Lee yelled behind him as Naru struggled to free herself from his grip.
Naru growled' "Let me go baka, I got to try something before we are left in the dark ya know."
Walking out of the room, Hinata was met with a pair of squabbling friends as they yelled up and down the hall. The headache she was determined to get rid of flashed forward with a vengeance as the more childish ninja bickered.
With a sigh she walked up to them. "Whats the matter Lee-kun, Naru-chan?" goodness her head hurt.
Both shinobi started yelling out at once making the young girl wince. "wait, wait a moment. what happened." She looked at Lee and gave a tiny nod for him to continue.
"Naru-chan here was about to run off and do something very unyouthful." Both she and Lee ignored Naru's yelled "NO I WASN'T!"
Turning to look at the fuming blond clan-head, she waited for Naru's side.
"Look, I was just gonna check the vents again. Maybe we missed something ya know." She ignored both her friends disbelieving frowns. "Hey it could happen. We can't check everywhere at once ya know." Crossing her arms, Naru scowled and turned her face away from her two best friends.
Hinata felt sorry that they hadn't been able to find a better way in besides the actual doors, unfortunately they were banned by Nara-sama from attending the meeting. If ony they could just disguise themselves and walk with the rest of the group...
Nevermind, Hinata felt like an idiot.
"Naru-chan, you can henge yourself and attend the meeting!" her pale eyes lit up with excitement.
Naru paused, "I mean I guess that's possible Ah, but I saw the seals on the door, they dispel illusions and the henge no jutsu. Its why I didn't mention it earlier." Blue eyes stared into pupiless ones as the two girls had a mini staredown.
leaning against the wall away from the two agitated females had Lee thinking. While he wasn't as knowledgable on seals as his two teammates, even he knew what the dispel seals looked like. It was after all, one of the last things Crane-sensei had taught them before they left Anbu to become team Anko. With these seals though they only had the most basic functions to them, dispel henge and break the illusion based justus...hmm.
"what if you use some of the nine-tails' powers?"
Naru gulped as both her friends gave nearly identical grins.
flashback end
So with little bit of chakra from the fox in her gut and a whole lot of chakra from herself, Naru managed to create a modified chakra shell around herself. Similar to the henge no justu it was to modify her appearance into the form of someone else. Unlike the Henge though, hers actually came out solid instead of a projectioned image, a fact that not only shocked her, but her friends as well. Unfortunately, Naru realized that her new Henge drained a ton of her chakra and made her very nervous on how long she could hold it before it fell apart.
Which leads her to now being stared at by two clan heads and a room of civilians and shinobi as she cursed her friends for getting her into this situation in the first place.
Swallowing heavily, Naru looked at Shikaku, her throat feeling tight as she answered the scarred male.
"Mercenaries are usually motivated by money and power. Unlike shinobi, they are more easily swayed. They are also usually trained by themselves and seem to favor the brute force attack method, hit them hard and overwhelm them with superior numbers."
Nara Shikaku gave a nod. "True, most mercs are a scrabbled together band of killers and fighters...many having bounties themselves." his dark eyes watched the younger man as he nodded along with the conversation. Beside him, Shibi was giving off a calculative air.
Naru nodded solemnly. "Yeah, also unlike shinobi, most mercs don't have the same willingness to work well together - atleast, not for long periods of time. Maybe that could be used as a way of getting the village back. Play on their weaknesses." She gave a foxy grin as the room exploded with gusto.
She felt bad about keeping the training ground idea a secret, especially from two high ranking jounin, but something was telling her not to say anything about it.
Shikaku sighed and stood once more as the room started to quiet down.
"Alright we have discussed some very important things, but understand this, whether or not the Hokage or the remaining villagers are alive is moot. Our main goal at the moment is getting these upsurpers out from the village - permanently We will discuss a plan of attack tomorrow first thing so be ready, that is all. Dismissed!"
With a flurry of motion the room moved to leave and amongst the crowd, a brown haired young man vanished with no one the wiser.
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Hinata and Lee both gave a jump as the door to their room was slammed open, hitting the poor wall behind it as it bounced off the concrete. Before them as deck of cards was scattered along the ground, forgotten as they watched their whiskered friend rush into the room they all shared, a sense of urgency practically radiating of her as she breezed by them before going to her bed and grabbing out her ninja gear from under the pillow.
Sharing a confused look, they both got up and moved over to their agitated friend. Lee being the more outspoken of the trio asked Naru what was wrong. The answer giving him a practical heart-attack.
"I'm gonna go and rescue the Hokage and save the village." Naru spoke it so softly but left no room for doubt.
"Naru that's suicide, What about the other shinobi, what happened in that meeting tell us what's going on please!" Hinata yelled out in shock before lowering her voice as she remembered the weren't ever truly alone here.
Beside her Lee gaped like a fish as his mind whirled with Naru's declaration. Nevermind the village, but to rescue the Hokage was a fools mission - especially since the had now idea where he was being kept. Something he told her outright.
Naru clenched her fists until her hands turned white. "You think I don't know that Lee. The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village, but I also know he would refuse to fight if he had a reason to, which leads me to believe that they wouldn't just kill him. Something else is going on here and its up to us three to figure it out. Lee, Hinata don't you see, they came here because of us. We have to fix this before more people die."
The two shinobi silently looked at each other for a long moment before giving resigned sighs. They both were still on the fence about this mission, even more so because they were still very inexperienced and defying orders set by Shikaku.
Turning back to their friend Lee and Hinata nodded and moved to grab their own gear.
Lee strapped on his kunai holder as he asked Naru if she had a plan.
Naru grinned, "of course, what do you take me for Lee...We are gonna go through Training ground 24 the one near the forest of death. Once we make our way around the perimeter, Hinata, I want you to scan with your Byakugan for the patrolling mercs. We need to take out as many as we can until we get to the Uzumaki compound, there we can get more supplies and plan the second half of our attack. Lee I want you backing up the rear of the formation, Hinata i want you in the middle watching for anything suspicious and i'll take point. Remember, getting to the compound as fast as we can is our main objective, but if we run into trouble, fight to kill."
Naru grimaced as she gave the order. It was distasteful but neither they nor she would balk at taking the kill. It was a shinobi's duty after all, and Naru couldn't find enough mercy to care about these murderers in herself.
Double checking that all her gear was in place, Naru, Hinata and Lee raced out of their room.
"The main hallways are probably still full from the meeting, so we should take the back staircase and avoid the sleeping, eating and living quarters entirely." Hinata said as they trio ran along another dark and dusty hallway.
Lee and Naru nodded.
It wasn't long before they made it to the rear doors, thankfully unguarded and pushed them open before running off into a forested area. After being underground for so long, the natural light from the sunset hurt Naru's eyes, causing her to squint in pain. From the grunts behind her, she figured she wasn't the only one.
Throwing her hand up into a pointing motion, she carefully moved her finger in a circular pattern. Hinata who was right behind Naru saw the movement and quickly started the seals for the Byakugan. the whole clearing burst into light as she scanned the area they were in. Seeing nothing suspicious, Hinata reached over to Naru and tapped her shoulder twice. With a nod, the trio quickly moved on once more, hedging alongside the infamous Forest of Death as they ran towards the inner village.
They ran for about ten minutes before the main village center could be seen thru the trees, yet just as they were about to breach the next training ground, Hinata threw her arms forwards and backwards grabbing both Lee and Naru as they were just about to leave the safety of the shade.
Naru turning around with her eyes blazing, stopped short when she saw Hinata - Byakugan still activated, making the anbu hand signal for 'enemies - action required'. Giving a short nod, she relayed the message to Lee, who readied a kunai as she turned back around and with a burst of speed, shot out to the small group of mercs who were patrolling.
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Walking calmly through the halls of the defeated Konoha command center, The Shadow moved down stairs, level by level. The taste of victory, of power flowed over his tongue sweeter than any ambrosia. Here he was, a begotten orphan, left to the unkind mercies of a hateful world turned Lord of the vile Konoha Shinobi.
Here his world would begin anew - and this time he wouldn't lose to some snot-nosed little brats either.
His lips curled up as he hit the basement level and walked to a lone cell amongst the furthest wall from the door. His oily voice held an amused purr as he said, "Good evening, Lord Third." His dark eyes focused on the deceptively frail old Hokage.
Tired eyes looked at the tyrant through the spaces between the bars of his cramped cell. Hiruzen hadn't been stuck in a cell for many years, yet, he reckoned, the feeling one gets after being trapped never gets forgotten. He signed and wished he still had his pipe with him. A smoke sounded positively wonderful to him at the current moment.
Snorting himself out of a stupor, Hiruzen focused back on the villainous upstart.
"I wish, young man, that I could return your greeting." He watched in slight satisfaction as The Shadow gnashed his teeth in thinly veiled frustration. "But I digress, you have not come to exchange pleasantries with me. Ask your questions boy."
The Shadow snarled as he leaned forward and gripped the bars of the cell in a white-knuckled hold as he spat at the robed man, "Enough of your nonsense old man! You will answer me and fast if you want to protect those you care about...After all, we've captured a good amount of your shinobi already, what's one or two deaths compared to the whole hmm." He fought for control as his body shook. Now was not a time to loose his head.
Hiruzen acknowledged the threat with a small nod. The situation was deadly and for all he knew of his opponent, every word would need to be thought out carefully. The fate of Konoha rested on his shoulders. "As I said boy, ask me your questions."
The Shadow swallowed down a shiver of excitement at the power he held over the dethroned Hokage and asked, "Where are the civilians, Lord Third? Where have you hidden them from me?" The Sandaime clenched his teeth and stayed quiet. " Are they in the woods perhaps? Have you given them the villages namesake and hidden them amongst the leaves? " His voice was low, almost soothing as he questioned the prisoner. "Or, have you given them away? Come now Lord Third, you know I will find them eventually. Why continue to gamble the lives of your people. " He let go of the bars and flung his arms out wide, gesturing to the empty room like a priest to his followers, his eyes alight with a mad glow. "Tell me, old man, tell me where the weak are, where the sick and the broken are...tell me where to find your...children..."
The silence stretched as The Shadow trailed off. His hands came down to his side's as he wrapped them around his body and hunched over, his head coming to rest against the bars. "Yes, Lord Third, tell me about the children. Orange, Lavender, Green...tell me why they won...tell me why they think they can win again...tell me so that once I find them I can rip their still beating hearts out. " He whispered as he stared unseeing at the cold stone floor.
The Sandaime looked at the trembling form in front of him with pity. "They won because their hearts embody the will of fire. They maybe children, but that doesn't make them any less of a hero. You will never truly win boy, not against them, it would be hopeless to try because one way or another, they will find away to bring you down!" Though he didn't raise his voice, each word was spoken with true conviction.
For a brief moment, The Shadow felt a fear so powerful he broke out into a cold sweat. His spine straightened out and he willed his voice to show none of the shaking he felt in his knees as he made eye contact with the other, "Let them come, Lord Third, I shall kill them where they stand...illuminated by the flames of your will!"
With that he turned and made his way to the door, he had much to get started on.
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High up into the Hokage monument, hidden from view, was the K.E.O.C bunker or the Konoha Evacuation Of Civilians bunker.
During the reign of the Nidaime Hokage, an evacuation plan was implemented in the case of war or natural disaster. Basically, it was used as a way to remove those unable to fight, out of the way so that Konoha wasn't hampered.
For Iruka, he was just glad that they had managed to evacuate the academy. When the attack happened, most of the kids had been getting ready to leave for the day, quickly thinking he had raced to get the scared students out of the classrooms and into the hidden tunnels that connected to the Hokage monument. It hadn't been easy.
So far, neither he nor any of the other academy chunnin had been able to get in contact with the command center. After the first twenty-four hours came and went with only radio silence, the teachers had to stop calling out, it was too risky now and the guidelines stated that no recalls of forces or civilians in the first full day after an attack was to be taken as Konoha occupied by enemies.
With a heavy heart, Iruka turned and looked at the sad face of his students. The predominantly civilian children looked the most freaked out versus the clan children who kept watching him and the other teachers. In particular, the Nara and the Aburame heirs seemed to be the most calm of the bunch. Heaving a sigh, he got up from where he had settled against the wall and made his way over to the two youngsters.
Both heirs looked up as he walked up to them. "I couldn't help notice how you both were looking over at me...how are you holding up?" He asked as he sat down next to them. An incredulous lifted eyebrow over a pair of tinted glasses and a muttered troublesome answered him as both children leaned up against the cold stone wall. Iruka tried to give them a reassuring smile, but he had a feeling they didn't buy it for a moment.
"Yeah, I figured as much." He said. Dark brown eyes looked away from the boys and instead swept the room. The academy students and their teachers looked worn down and tried. If only there was some way to fix this. Iruka thought as somewhere in the mass, a child started to sniffle.
"Sensei...forgive me if I am wrong, but our situation seems rather bleak, why, because the sirens should have activated long before this alerting us that we are allowed to return home."
Iruka looked over at Aburame Shino, who was staring at him, and thought about lying to the boy. No...NO, I can't do that, it wouldn't be right. Then again nothing about this situation is right. No, for all that he is a child and under my care in the absence of his clan, I won't sugercoat it for him. Giving himself a mental nod, Iruka spoke out in his teaching voice, "I know how this seems Shino-kun, believe me. Nothing about this situation is normal and it definitely ain't safe either...I know it seems like a lot to ask, but for now - trust in the strength of Konoha and its shinobi, okay." He gave one last tense smile and closed his eyes.
He had a lot to think about and time was never on their side.
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The three mercenaries cursed and grumbled loudly as they got caught in another field of ivy. Out of the several thousand fighters and cutthroats, an approximate thirty percent had some experience with the thick forests of the Hi no Kuni countryside. Unfortunately Kiyoshi Jiro and his two cohorts, were not of that percentage. Coming from the more temperate land of Tea, he had never had to deal with such large trees or heavy foilage, as such Jiro couldn't stop himself from swearing up a storm when he couldn't stop himself from tripping over hidden roots and branches. Truthfully, or so he thought, it couldn't be his own fault as the entire forest floor was covered in several layers of fallen leaves.
"Fuckin' kami-forsaken damned leaves!" One of the mercs snarled as he kicked a large pile out of his path. Leaves and sticks flew into the air, narrowly missing Jiro as he walked in front of them. "How do those leaf fucks manage to walk in this shit!"
"Watch out you fucking idiot!" Jiro snapped, his hand came up and shoved off a few leaves from his shoulders.
"Shut you fuckin' mouth, you ain't the fuckin' boss of me!"
Breathing deeply for inner peace, Jiro resisted the urge to turn around and bitch-slap the younger man behind him until he learned some damned manners. Yeah, he wasn't the main man incharge, but he was the bastard in charge of this patrol.
The third man, younger than Jiro and the other man, suddenly stopped and turned his head side to side.
Jiro stopped a few steps ahead of him before addressing the younger male, "what is it?" He asked.
The man shushed him and strained the limits of his hearing as he looked around the clearing. "I thought I heard something" He said as he scanned around him.
Trees grew thickly in a ragged circle as fallen logs covered in moss and half buried under mounds of dried leaves. The man grunted as the only sounds he could hear was the sounds of the wind rustling the foliage.
"Come on shitty bastard, we still have to finish this stupid ass patrol." Jiro rolled his eyes as the loudmouth sneered behind him.
Snorting the trio started to move onwards.
Until they didn't.
The men barely had any warning before a hail of kunai descended from the surrounding trees, causing them to duck out of the way. Covering his head with his hands as he dove over a log, Jiro attempted to look for his comrades as the sharp projectiles flew through the air.
As quickly as it started, it ended. The forest was silent once again. it was almost as peaceful as when they started their patrol.
Gasping for breath, Jiro stretched his hand over his rapidly beating heart. What the fuck was that? Jiro turned his head until he could feel the harsh bark against his face, could smell the moss and loam, but couldn't see or hear anything. His eyes moved around the clearing, but all he saw was the leaves fluttering in the breeze.
"Is that all you got, you damned leaf shit-fucks!" A scream rang out causing Jiro to roll his eyes at his partners idiocy.
Before he could yell for everyone to shut up, another barrage of kunai came whistling threw the trees in all directions. A blur shot forward at a speed Jiro honestly had no idea humans could achieve. Well shit! Was the last clear thought Jiro had before a foot crashed into his face and punted him across the clearing. The feeling of being weightless was only superseded by the pain that radiated across his right cheek, already he could feel the swelling. In the back of his mind, he wondered if this is how a ball felt after being kicked.
"JIRO!"
CRASH!
He was wrong, so very wrong. Pain lanced his entire body as his fast-paced flight came to an abrupt stop against a large boulder several clearings away. Jiro couldn't tell if the cracks he heard, came from the rock or his own body. Exhaustion seemed to come from nowhere as he slid down the face of the rock, it's uneven surface barely registering to him as he tried to keep his eyes open. Kami, everything hurt so bad. Jiro, swallowing down both pain and no small amount of blood, tried to move his arms, only to panic when they didn't move.
A crunch of dried leaves had Jiro looking up at a figure. His head swam and he felt his stomach roll with the sudden nausea as the figure grew closer and closer. Concussion, broken bones, maybe even some busted up organs...fuck,that douchbag did a number on me...Kami, it hurts to even think...can barely even see...I...I don't want it to...end...not like...not like this...
Jiro watched through blurry eyes as the green blur grabbed out a kunai and drew it swiftly over his throat, the pinching feeling gave way to a draining one as he tried to draw in more air, only to find he couldn't. Air was coming out not in.
A gurgled moan crept past bloody lips as Jiro slowly closed his eyes. Maybe...A nap...sounds good right now...I'll just sleep...For a moment...just rest my eyes for a...bit...
One last sigh was heard from the dying man as his broken body fully slumped against the rock, nothing left but a husk of a man, some blood and a cracked boulder in a sunny clearing that hugged the edges of Konohagakure.
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Lee frowned at the bloody carcass before him in silent contemplation. It wasn't his first kill, not was it a highly physical or interesting fight, no it was just pitiful to him. For the life of him, Lee couldn't figure what caused such a man to follow the sadistic megalomaniac known as The Shadow.
"So unyouthful." He muttered without any of his usual cheer. With a sigh, Lee bent down a small ways from the body and ran the bloody kunai against the grass in the clearing, cleaning it off before putting it back into his weapons pouch. With a small shake of his head, he leapt up into the tree's and ran branch to branch until he met back up with Hinata-chan and Naru-chan.
He found both rather quickly as they sat high above the other two mercs. Both men had sweat rolling down their faces in thick rivets as they frantically scanned around themselves. Naru-chan herself seemed to be muttering something to Hinata-chan, so Lee was loath to actually disturb them. With a small wave and the anbu hand signal for 'target eliminated ', all three teammates turned the focus back to what was left of the patrol squad.
"What about another surprise attack? It worked before, might work again?" Naru asked as she leaned forward on her branch.
Hinata shook her head, byakugan still activated, and said, "I don't think it would work again...at least not with this group." Her voice was quieter than usual as she watched the enemy. Already both men were moving closer to one another and while they did make a bigger target, it also made it harder to move around them efficiently.
Naru watched as the two currently alive mercenaries tried to find them. Honestly, with how badly they moved through the forest, she wasn't holding out much hope for the continued existence of them. Loud, clanking armor, heavy foot fall's and not to mention the racket that one kept making had her eyes rolling, Naru turned back to her friends and flashed the anbu signal for divide.
Lee and Hinata both nodded in agreement before grabbing out some supplies from their meager stash. With nary a sound, both shinobi were airborne in a flash of color, a slight breeze left in their wake from pushing off the branch so suddenly. A whistle the only warning that the two men had before a small hail of shurikan descended on them from the tree tops.
With a grimace both men took a sharp dive over a fallen log, blood ran freely from places the metal stars had hit their marks and in some cases the shurikan was still imbedded in their flesh. The younger mercenary grunted in pain as he pulled one of the stars from out of his shoulder, blood immediate started to run down his back leaving a wet trail. A sneer on his lips, he studied the bloody weapon with contempt before throwing it haphazardly away from him, a clang sounded in the clearing as the shurikan bounced harmlessly off of a small boulder barely a foot from the injured man.
"Fuckin' leaf demons!" The older man snarled as he too pulled stars from his body. "Hide and throw all you can do shitty panseys!" The space rang with the force of his yelled barb. He wiped his brow, the sweat hot and sticky against his face as he scanned the clearing relentlessly. He knew the bastards were still there, could practically feel the eyes on him.
Up in the trees in a triangle formation with the two men in the center, Naru watched as her friends got in position before raising her thumb up at them in the signal for go and then launching herself down upon the mercenaries.
Her fist planted itself firmly into the older mans face with a satisfying crack, followed by her foot hitting the space right under his ribs, the force had the man slightly folding over her leg as a warm gush of blood left his mouth in a fine spray. Behind her, Naru could hear the sounds of fighting as Hinata and Lee made short work of the younger merc. With a shake of her head, she refocused on the stunned male before her. His dark hair and eyes blended well with his pale complexion, slightly burnt from the sun, the mad gleam within those orbs though, gave the girl a pause when he stared her down. No shred of humanity seemed to exist withing those dark depths. Naru shivered slightly.
"Tha..ha...That hurt...You stupid...Bitch...ha huh ugh...Your gonna wish...For an...easy death when i'm through with...You!"
Naru felt she would have been more worried if the man spitting bloody spit didn't sound like he was about to keel over on the next stiff breeze, but hey whatever. Loosening up her body like Anko-sensei had taught her, she brought up her fists in a loose stance, her legs bent at the knee and shoulder width apart as she watched the man catch his breath before shooting forward into a smooth false punch before transitioning into a well practiced knife-strike to the throat. The poor idiot didn't even see it coming as he bent backwards from the force of the hit, his spine popping so loud at the sudden movement, Naru could hear it clear as day. All the air he thought he owned flew from his body in a very painful exhale as the small girl just kept throwing strikes, punches and kicks to any part of his body she could get to, and she was getting to a lot.
Finally having enough of being a shinobi punching bag, He dodged to the left and threw a punch at the girl, managing to catch her square in the jaw that forced her head and neck back and caused her to stumble, opening up her guard. With a grin that exposed bloody teeth, The mercenary grabbed out his katana blade from its sheath, and gave a sideways slash to the konoichis open stomach. Her hiss of pain was music to his ears.
"Had enough little girl." He taunted as the child put a hand to the gash. The confidence he had before this patrol grew as he walked closer to the injured Uzumaki. "Just give up sweetheart, ill make it swift if you promise not to fight." A snakes voice couldn't have been sweeter, as the man stalked closer and closer.
Naru narrowed her eyes in concentration and no small amount of pain as she held her hand against the wound. Her quick healing would take care of it soon, she knew, but she still ran the risk of blood loss in between that. I hope Lee and Hinata are havin' better luck than I am, she thought as she caught her breath, shook out the numbness from her extremities and dove back into her fight with a battle cry.
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Hinata thanked every Kami she could remember, that though her opponent was bigger and stronger than her, it was obvious that he was not nearly as trained as them. The years of living rough had hardened his body and created a mean streak a mile wide, but he only trained his body and not the chakra pathways like a ninja would have. So even though he was stronger, it was only flesh deep.
Beside her, Lee stood strong and confident as he watched the young male get up again from the beating he had given him. Blood gushed from a very obvious broken nose and his left arm was bent at an angle that hinted strongly of being dislocated, if not broken as well. With a flash of handseals Hinata activated her Byakugan and focused on their opponent as he wobbled in place before finding his feet. "Lee-kun, are you okay?" She murmered under her breath as her friend took deep, uneven breaths beside her
Lee smiled widely at Hinata as he nodded. "I'm fine Hinata-chan, just a little tired." Her answering smile warmed him as he turned back to the man. "Yosh, I will take him down in the next five minutes, if I can not do it than I will walk ten times around Konoha on my hands with boulders attached to my feet!"
The man looked at the two kids in front of him and blanched. How come he was stuck fighting these weirdos, maybe his idiot partner would trade with him.
Somewhere deep underground in the outskirts of Konoha, a green clad man suddenly woke up screaming about the power of youth.
"Hear I go!"
The man refocused a moment too late as a fist appeared before him, followed by the sight of large round eyes, before he found himself flying backwards at a speed so fast, the surrounding forest became a blur.
Dammit, that kid hits hard...fuck, everything hurts. The man could barely tell up from down as he flew through the air. "KAKATO-GERI!" His eyes snapped upwards as the green child was suddenly above him suspended in air, before bringing his heel down upon his stomach. The blow hit with tremendous force, changing his center of gravity as he was shot back down towards the hard and unforgiving earth.
BOOM!
The ground caved in as the mans body hit it, creating a large crater with his broken body at its center. His eyelids fluttered before falling closed, his body shutting down from the trauma, as the green ninja landed at the rim of the hole, staring down at him with a serious look on his face.
His last thoughts were that it hadn't even been five minutes.
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Naru barely dodged a kick to the face as she was knocked unsteady from the tremors that rolled across the ground from one of her friends attacks.
"Whats the matter little bitch, tired already." She turned al her focus back n the man before her as he mocked her. Her lips pulled into a frown as she bounced backwards from a rather sloppy punch aimed at her solar plexus
She grinned at him as he grumbled about the missed hit and said, "Me tired, HA! You're looking at the number one konoichi Uzumaki Naru, Ya know." She reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a kunai - one of the last that they had, and gripped it tightly in her left hand and waited for the right time to strike. If she moved too soon she would be left without a weapon, and for all this man wasn't the best fighter she had ever seen, she was unwilling to gamble on him just being a brainless patsy. "You on the other hand look ready to fall over. How 'bout you do us both a favor and just drop already old man."
The man gave a screech of pure rage at her quip, and charged at her like a bull. Naru grinned larger, pissing him off as the veil of bloodlust clouded what was left of rational thought. He was out for blood.
closer and closer and closer still he came, but Naru didn't move. She could almost feel the pounding footsteps against the forest floor as the man jugernatted his way towards her, sword at the ready as he prepared for the final killing strike.
Closer - she could see the sweat shining on his brow.
Closer - she could smell dust, body odor and cheap booze from his clothes.
Closer - she could taste dried blood from a cut in her mouth. A gift from him for a moment of distraction.
Closer - she could hear his heavy pants for breath as he ran unsteadily towards her. His heartbeat visibly in the cords of his neck, she could practically hear the beats.
Close enough - She felt the oily strands of his hair between her hand as she slid to one side, catching him as he moved past her. She tightened her grip and brought out her Kunai from her other hand and drew it across his neck in one smooth practiced motion. A spray of warm red blood flew out into the air as she held the dying mercenary in place.
Naru peered over into the dark eyes of the man and saw nothing but hate as he choked on his own life-blood. She watched as the light left his eyes and his whole body slumped forward with dead weight, forcing her to let him go. His body made a small cloud of leaves poof up as it his the ground. By nightfall, the bodies of the patrol would be gone as the animals from the Forest of Death would claim them, leaving nothing but puddles of blood to show they had even existed in the first place. Still, as morbid the thought, Naru couldn't dwell on that at the moment. right now, They needed to keep going and hit the village proper before anything else could waylay them.
A crunch of leaves to her right had Naru looking up into the tired eyes of her teammates. She had a feeling hers looked no different.
Hinata walked up to Naru and handed her a large bundle of kunai and shurikan, that she and Lee had spent the last few minutes collecting. "What are you thinking about Naru-chan?" She asked her friend as she put away her weaponry.
Naru nodded her thanks, before looking up at the sky, "I reckon we only have an hour or two before the sun goes down. We'll need to run full speed if we want to get to the village before that happens." Both Hinata and Lee nodded reluctantly at her words. What she said was true, but it didn't mean they had to like it. A full tilt run on nearly empty reserves would leave them all heavily drained, on the other hand running into another patrol exhausted and injured would be just as worse.
It was Lee that spoke up as he moved to Naru's other side, "We'll need to cross the market district to reach the compound. From what I heard from some of the other ninja, that's where a good chunk of the fighting took place besides the main gate and the Hokage tower." He slid his arm under her armpit and moved her arm over his shoulder to help keep her steady.
Naru grimaced as the moved jostled her injury, before looking straight ahead. "Guess we better get moving then." She said with finality.
the chorused hai rang in the air before the three ninja jumped into the trees and sped off towards the bright lights of Konoha.
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Hiruzen Sarutobi had been Hokage for longer than anyone else, a fact few could or would contest at. He had seen much in his years as a ninja. From having his sensei die to watching his most promising student betray the village and al in-between, had earned him the rank of Kage, the strongest of his village and the guide for the will of fire. He had seen friends and loved ones pass like ships in the night and still he remained as a pillar of hope amongst his children.
And yet...
For all he had done, and for all he wanted to do, he was stuck as a prisoner to a darkness so foul, it dimmed that glow of hope to a small burning ember.
At my age I should be enjoying my retirement. Damn that fox to the lowest level of perdition. He thought in annoyance. Here he was, the strongest in the village and he could do nothing but sit and wait on his heels. He shifted uncomfortably against the cold stone of his cell as he counted the footsteps of the guard posted down the narrow hallway leadin away from the cells. So far, nobody but the horrid man incharge had attempted to talk with him, and while he looked at this as a blessing, Hiruzen knew deep in his tobacco loving heart, that it was only a temporary one. Soon, the upstart playing Kami upstairs would get impatient, leading to an escalation in questioning until finally, resorting to torture he would attempt to break him.
The Sandaime Hokage breathed out a sigh into the quiet room, before looking at the woman standing before his cell.
"The will of fire burns in the heart of all shinobi of Konoha." The woman said in a smooth monotone, her blank eyes showed no emotion as she stared the aged man down. He simply watched her back, discipline engraved in him from a lifetime of fighting kept him as blank as the doll-like woman in front of him.
She cocked her head to the right slightly, her movements slow and precise in a way that suggested every movement was a ploy. To what end, Hiruzen could only guess at. "You are proud of your forces. You view them like your children and willingly, gave yourself up as a hostage to secure a line of safety for them." She raised up a hand like she was offering him a sweet treat. "Come, Leaf Leader, see for yourself the end your foolish ideals have wrought."
The woman stepped away from the cell as two bulky men came forward from the shadows and unlocked the iron door. Both had hands on their weapons as they paused momentarily before walking into the small cell and grabbed the aged leader from his spot against the wall. Not a word was spoken as they marched him out and past the woman, her heels clacked loudly against the stone floor as she followed along behind his two man escort.
They went up floor by floor of the Hokage Tower, passing the aftermath of destruction on every level until they reached, Hiruzen noted sourly, his office. The lone female of the group separated from them and knocked on the door. a moment passed until a muffled voice called for the to enter.
After being in the dark, lower levels for so long, Hiruzen had to squint slightly in pain as the huge windows had the late afternoon sunlight filter in. Even so, the Sandaime would have to be blind, deaf and dumb to miss the young man sitting at the large oak desk.
The black-clad figure smiled oily at the older man with ambitious eyes locked firmly on tired ones. He threw out his arms into a wide stance, as if inviting the Hokage for a hug, and laughed harshly. "Welcome, welcome! Like what ive done to the place? I'll admit you had a good setup going for you here, a little out of date for my tastes, but I digress..." Here he chuckled more quietly to himself.
Hiruzen simply looked at the foolish boy before him, " You seek to ignite my fury boy, but that is not what you shall have at this time." Hiruzen saw the Shadow tense at his words and quelled down an almost instinctive need to needle further.
As quickly as he reacted, the Shadow just as quickly calmed himself. It was a noticeable change from the way the boy had conducted himself in the cells just a few days ago. Here was a calmer, more professional young man vs, a unstable lunatic dancing violently along the edges of a deep, unending madness. The old man, knew not who the more dangerous the threat was.
"Haha, it seems you have figured out my plan." he said as he let his widespread arms fall back to his sides, his smile was looking decidedly more false by the second. "But, that is why you are called the professor, is it not. Of course, I cant count on simply tricks to beat you. no no no, I actually called for you for a much different purpose, my dear Hokage, he who loves this village and everyone in it. Can you guess what it could be?" He leaned in so close, the Sandaime could smell the remnants of mint on the mans voice.
"Is that so?" he said. Voice as dry as a Suna sand storm. "Why don't you tell me exactly what you want."
The Shadow smiled thinly, a dark look in his eyes as he stared at the old leader before him. How the mighty have fallen, he thought. "What I want is not a mystery, Hokage. The total destruction of this village, for starters, the death of ninja and all those who worship the very ground you walk on." His hands clenched at his sides as the familiar feeling of burning rage lit a fire within his being. The smile vanished from his face as the face of his father flashed in his mind, of his senseless murder at the hands of ninja. His vendetta, his reason for even existing anymore.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes as the man stared him down, "Then my boy, I can only pity you entirely."
The Shadow lifted up a hand with a contentious look on his face. "Please old man, don't bore me with you will of fire bullshit, i've heard enough to last me a lifetime and quite frankly...its nothing that could possibly change what is going to happen, what needs to happen." He said.
Turning his back on the Hokage, he looked out the window, and stared at the husk of the village. The place was dark and almost lifeless in look, but he supposed that is what happens when a good eighty percent of the population has disappeared. What few civilians and shinobi had been captured was hardly what he could call satisfying, but it was a momentary setback. "Take him back to his cell. We have nothing more to discuss."
The woman from earlier came up behind him and motioned for Hiruzen to follow her.
As he turned to leave, he stopped and without turning back, said, "No, my boy. I fear you do not understand and that, is why you can only lose. For though the fire shall burn bright, so too, shall the brightness burn...Shadows like you can never last in that light."
The silence was more telling than any sound could ever make, as the Hokage made his way outside the door and down to the cells once more.
Behind him, a loud crash echoed through the halls, and Hiruzen smiled.
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After the trios victory in the forest, they made their way towards the village proper. Long shadows crept up from between the buildings as the small group moved through dirty alleyways and wrecked buildings.
"what the fuck happened here! This place looks like a dump, believe it!" Naru whispered harshly, her eyes taking in a rusty brown patch off to the side of the path - old blood puddle, her mind supplied absently.
A hand, rough and callused landed on her arm, she turned and faced Lee. Her heart broke at the look on his face, so sympathetic Naru smiled thinly back, but she knew it probably looked more like a grimace than any emotion close to comforting.
Up ahead, her Byakugan fully active, Hinata scouted out the road they would need to take. She smiled sadly at the tender display between her best friends as she watched for intruders. shifting her back more comfortably against the rubble of a fallen stairwell, she waited.
Lee watched both his friends. Saw the tired, world weary expressions and the way the slumped forward. He wished there was something he could do for them, but he felt just as lost as his team. It was moments like this that he almost wished he could have been just a normal academy student, or even a civilian, rather than a shinobi - not that he wasn't grateful to be able to make his own way, he just felt that it would be easier to make decisions when they didn't have the world at stake.
Sighing, he stood up, making sure he was fully hidden before doing so, and addressed the girls, saying, "Come on, we should get moving, it isn't safe to just stay in one spot for too long." he ignored Naru's muttered "it isn't safe when we're moving either, ya know." Looking at Hinata, he asked, "Hinata-chan, hows it looking out there?"
Without turning, Hinata replied, "Mostly empty. The patrols seem to focused more among the street than the houses themselves. If we keep to the residential district, we shouldn't run into any enemies."
Naru nodded. It made sense in a way. There was no true way to tell who was a shinobi or civilian just from the outside of a house or apartment, besides it had been days since Konoha had been overtaken, so what would be the point of re-checking an area that had already been searched. Still though, it had the most direct path to the markets and the most unfortunate placement of being as far from the Uzumaki compound as possible.
She looked down at her clothes and frowned. While she wasn't like Ino or Sakura who cried when their clothes got a little wrinkled, she desperately wished she wasn't covered in sweat and blood covered clothes, it would make them stand out more so than usual. That was the last thing they needed. No, they would need new clothes when they got home if they were going to rescue the village. She already had an idea for the disguises, now she just needed to go and get them.
"Lets avoid the main road as much as possible. That side alley between those two apartment building should cross atleast two streets worth of space. From there, lets head into the nicer neighborhood and cut through the backyards, that should shave off an hour of travel or so. Any questions?" Both Hinata and Lee shook their heads.
As one, the team moved out. No chakra was being used to speed them up as they ran and jumped from space to space. The uncertainty that there might be a sensor amongst the enemy was too great to risk this one chance at reclaiming their home and saving their people, though it did sow them down quite a bit.
Everywhere they went, signs of destruction and death met them there. Building half destroyed, streets littered with trash and debris and walls covered in the aftermath of those unlucky enough to get away. to the three children, who had grown up in this village, it was nothing short of a nightmare.
"Hey wait..." Lee stopped, holding his palm up to the girls, "Do you hear that?" he asked.
Both Naru and Hinata stopped, tilted their heads and listened. "What the...?" Naru asked, as she looked around. "Is that the market?"
Sharing a nod, they moved closer to the end of the alley.
The market was nothing like they had ever seen. Men of all shapes and sizes crowded the place, drunk. The three looked on in dismay at the level of public intoxicated.
"Im not the only one seeing this right?" Lee asked, his eyes wider than normal and focused on a group of men fighting in the street. Naru blanched, and looked over at Hinata, rolling her eyes.
"Who's they think im...idjits, all 'em...findsss, three kids...like findin' a needle in a needle stack...blrgh, ha uh 'cough'...need a drink..."
Naru grabbed Hinata and Lee by the backs of their clothes and pulled, hard.
A bald, heavy-set man ambled past the spot the trio had been in just a moment ago. Sweat dribbled down his portly red face as he walked unsteadily. The smell of cheap sake wafted heavily in his wake and made Naru want to hurl. She watched as the man walked around a corner and disappeared from view.
"That's...not good, guys." This was the absolutely, the worst possible thing that could be happening right now. First the whole debacle with the Shadow and now it followed them home. To be fair though, if some snot-nosed brats came in and destroyed her underground fighting ring, she would be a little miffed about it. Still didn't condone the invasion though.
"Naru...Naru...Naru!" Lee whisper yelled into her ear. "What are you waiting for, we need to leave right now, before we're spotted. Come on!" He grabbed on of her arms and pulled her among behind him as Hinata and him started to run down another small street.
Hinata panted slightly as they ran, "Lets hurry, we're almost there. Just a little bit further..." She was cut off as a blinding flash of light lit up the night sky nearly blinding her. Two strangled yells behind her let her know her friends weren't as lucky. "Did that come from home?" she asked.
"Well, whatever it is, we should check it out."
"Yeah!"
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Commander Kenzo had to hand it to these ninja. Not a damn thing done by half with them.
Case in point. Glowing gates, compounds that could go invisible, the type of casual power these people weilded and lorded over common folk. It sickened him.
In front of them, a glowing gate of metal and stone barred their way, but he was more focused on the several smoking bodies laying on the ground before the entrance.
All it had taken was a moment, a flash of light and then...nothing. Mere seconds for a whole and healthy men to be reduced to overcooked human bacon. He shuddered internally, those poor souls didn't even have time to yell out, it was so sudden.
"Um, sir... a word please?"
He turned around and spied a young man, maybe mid-twenties if he was being generous, standing in a sloppy salute. His armor was mostly cobbled bits of leather and metal, most definitely from one of the mercenary groups they had hired, Kenzo thought to himself. He watched passively as a large droplet of sweat carved a path from his temple down to his throat, the poor boy shifted from side to side in a nervous gesture under his gaze. Kenzo cleared his throat, "Well, get on with it." He said, voice slightly scratchy from the yelling he had done earlier, not that it had done any good, those men still fried no matter how many times he yelled to 'get back'.
The younger man, shot a glance over to the gate before looking back to him, "The thing is sir...um...you see, its the men sir...they don't want nothing to do with that place, they say its cursed and if we stay, we'll all end up like those guys." He shot another look at the pile of smoking corpses, "Sir, its unnatural, we should leave, while we still can."
Kenzo's sword flashed in a smooth arc, a slight whistle left in it wake as it sliced though the air.
The young mans body slumped to the ground as if it was a puppet whose strings had been cut, while his head rolled across the street to stop at the feet of the clearly frightened men. One man started to dry heave as he got a clear look of terror on the boys face, his eyes wide open in death.
Kenzo took out a strip of cloth and wiped the blood off his sword, moving slowly towards the group, his voice almost jovial as he said, "Well now, that's that then..." he came to a stop in front of them. "You see gentlemen, when fear takes a hold of you, it becomes quite easy for one to lose his head, wouldn't you agree?"
He pointed his sword at a man in the group. The poor man hurriedly nodded hi head, sweat practically falling from his body, "Ye-s, sir!" Kenzo smiled. He turned to another man, "what about you?" This man practically fell to his knees, a sob in his voice as he too agreed.
Down the line of men he went, never losing his smile as he asked his question over and over until there was no more men to ask.
"I understand how you all feel, I truly do, but unlike you I am not ruled by my fear. Now, we are going to get into this place, if I have to sacrifice everyone here to do so, I will. You all will follow that order until it it completed. I won't tolerate failure. Any man here who thinks he won't be able to follow that order, can come p here now and I will relieve you of your burdens...Am I clear?" He said, voice light as the men started to shake in petrified fear. "Good...now I want three teams of four, start patrolling around this compound. I want to know how big it is, how many exits it has, and anything else you deem useful...Now go!"
The men rushed to obey, tripping over equipment and each other in their haste to escape.
Kenzo watched them go, a pensive look on he weathered face. Bumbling fools, the lot of them.
"Ba, Mori, Yoshi! Get over here, now!" He yelled.
Three men walked out from the shadows of a nearby building.
The first was tall and thin with a vertical scar crossing over a eye that was no longer there, his hair was a metallic silver that paired well with his pale complexion, making him seem almost ethereal in the soft moonlight. With his black clothes, he could've passed for a prince of the night. One intelligent blue eye watched the world in a dismissive manner. He was Ba, Kenzo's best warrior and leader of the three beasts, he bore the title 'Ba the Ikuchi'*.
Behind him was a large muscular man with flaming orange hair that hung to mid back. His narrow eyes where the color of emeralds and just as hard as he stomped up to stand beside Ba. A frown tugged his lips down in a grimace. Standing next to him, a normal man would seem almost like a child compared to his height. Muscles on his muscles, this was 'Mori the Oni'*, and the second of the three beasts.
Last but not least that left only one man. Bald, fat and shorter than both men stood 'Yoshi the Dragon'*. Compared to the others Yoshi was the odd one out. His portly figure was flabby and pale in a way that spoke not of natural means but more like intentional. To see him stand with the others was comical and underwhelming, but in truth that was point. Out of all of Kenzo's men, Yoshi was by far his greatest asset, his perfect spy and completely loyal. What he lacked in presence he more than made up for in cunning.
Kenzo watched as the three men gathered in front of him. Each man was perfectly suited for a specific task and he knew, they would not fail him. He would except no less.
"By now you have heard of our...little predicament." He said once it was quiet and still once more, " This is good... I have need of your services once again. You see, the master has a plan and it is vital that it goes accordingly. Once this gate falls we will need to gather as much information from whoever loves here. It is obviously a clan home, no civilian would have this type of protection, so we need everything on what these symbols mean. Yoshi, I'm trusting you with that part, do what you can to get me the information as quickly as possible. "
Yoshi nodded his head in agreement, his voice thin and nasally said, "I'm gonna need to check out the registry in that tower then, might take me most of the night."
Kenzo sighed but nodded anyways. There would be time later to see if it could be speeded up. "Bring with anything you need, men and supplies. I need this info as fast as you can get it." He said.
" Ba, get the other commanders here. It's time we do a more in-depth search of the village and I need all hands on deck for this. " He paused for a moment, "while your at it, send the rest of the army to the tower, I'll address the bulk there."
Be nosed low in one graceful movement.
No words needed to be spoken, Kenzo knew he would follow his orders to completion.
"Mori, do what you can to clean up this mess, I want those bodies gone from here by the time I get back." He walked away, throwing a quick " dismissed " behind him as he walked to a large tent that had been erected for him. He had a job to do.
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Naru watched the meeting from the safety of a large tree, deep within its branches and hidden by the vibrant green leaves. Her kind was a whirl of information and plans, each one more dangerous than the other. She sat back on her branch and went down what she knew for sure.
One, the Shadow was in control of Konoha - that's bad.
Two, most of the village was safe and currently hiding -that's not bad, but it wasn't great either.
Three, some old guy with a bad haircut had apparently decided to attack her home, wants to steal her clans secrets and also is sending his goons to do his dirty work - that was major bad.
She chewed her lip in concentration. The most important thing was for her and her team to get inside of compound, which is easier said than done. Guards were crawling all around the perimeter, plus that ugly muscle-head was moving corpses from right in front of the gate. Naru huffed in frustration. There has to be a way in somehow. I can't let them hurt the clan or gain our secrets. That's just wrong. She thought, her head stating to hurt from all this thinking.
"Oi, Mori-san, we need some help over here!"
Naru looked down at the small group standing almost directly beneath her branch. Three men waved over meat for brains, a huge barrel in between them made a sloshing sound when it got bumped. She strained her ears and stayed as still as possible.
"Hm."
Kami didn't he sound eloquent Naru thought sarcastically. Apparently the men found it just as amusing as her.
"We need some help. The commander wants several of these," the leader pointed to the barrel , "at all the gates along the perimeter. Primo stuff, this blast jelly. Has a seal on it to make it explode. The commander had one of them mercs with some ninja training coming here to set them off. All you need to do is place them, then get behind the treeline." He said.
Muscles nodded slowly. He picked up the barrel like it was nothing and ambled away.
The rest of the men took that as their cue to skedaddle. Up in the tree Naru grinned as she watched what direction they walked away in before she melted into the shadows and disappeared.
0-0-0-0-0
Naru patted herself on the back, mentally of course, there was little room to do physically when one is stuffed into a barrel that also had two other kids in it. Also it smelled bad, like really bad, like Naru should have grabbed an air freshener bad. Blast jelly and sweat, a very ripe combination.
"Lee-kun, your elbow."
" Sorry...can somebody move their foot from my kidneys please. "
"I will as soon as Hinata can move her hand from my windpipe!"
Outside in a field not too far from the compound, a barrel in a pyramid of other barrels, rocked back and forth wildly before coming to a halt.
"Okay, is everyone settled?" Naru asked as she tucked herself in just a bit tighter.
Lee frowned, "I'm still confused on why we are doing this? All you said was you had an awesome plan and to move my ass." Beside him, Hinata nodded.
Naru blushed, thankful it was dark and hard to see in here. "I'm yeah, hehe, sorry...right the plan is simple - these invader jerks managed to find blasting jelly stores in these barrels, right, so I found out that they're going to put them next to the smaller side gates along the walls to try and break through them. We hide in the barrel, all stealthy like, and get carried to one of the gates, then when those dobes run to hide in the trees, we spring out and slip into the gate."
Naru grinned fondly at her awesomeness.
"Um, Naru-chan, what about the other barrels of the jelly? Won't they destroy the walls and allow the others to get in?" Hinata asked.
crickets chirped somewhere in the silence.
"AH! I FORGOT ABOUT THAT! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? THIS IS BAD, YOU HEAR ME BAD. CODE RED, I REPEAT CODEhrmpthfr..." Lee slapped both hands across Naru's mouth, a panicked look on his face as he listened to outside of the barrel.
Hinata activated her byakugan and scanned around their hiding place.
A beat...two beats...three.
After a couple minutes of silence, both Hinata and him breathed a sigh of relief.
"Gtfgn offr mnhy fcss! Cnnt brefff!"
Hinata poked Lee. "You should probably let go of her...I don't think she can breath."
Lee took his hands away, a slightly sheepish look on his face as he watched Naru gulp in huge mouthful of breath and then gag when she actually tasted the air. "Sorry Naru-chan." He tried to run the back of his head and accidentally hit Hinata up across her head, making her woozy from the force unintended blow. "Shoot, sorry Hinata-chan. You okay?"
Naru giggled, " just leave her for a moment Lee, she just needs space. " He grinned smoothly.
Suddenly, the barrel shifted causing all three kids to tumble completely against each other in a painful pile. Side to side the world seemed to move as deep grunts sounded out from outside.
Naru tried to sit up and found herself on the bottom of the dog pile. Voices grew louder as the swaying became more steady.
"Ah, Mori-san, got another one I see...let's see here, that makes barrel number five...five..five...hm, an there it is. Barrel five is going to the east gate. Just follow the others in that group...something wrong Mori-san?"
All three ninja went pale as a deep voice practically shook their hiding place with its intensity.
"This one feels different? Heavier than the other barrels."
The first voice chuckled. "Mori-san,we personally looked at each barrel to double check the contents, I assure you that everything is in order."
Hinata watched with her doujutsu as the two men talked when suddenly the big one looked down and looked at the exact spot where her eyes were. She froze, stopped breathing as the pseudo starting contest started. Logically she knew he couldn't see her, knew she wasn't in the barrel...It was another thing to believe it. She said a hand down and gripped one of her friend's and prayed for strength.
"Hm, must be my imagination then...bye."
Lee felt sweat drop down his back as they started walking again. Every moment where the hadn't been discovered yet caused him to become tender and on edge. At this moment he was so stiff, a light breeze would probably shatter him to piece. That and whoever was carrying them desperately needed a shower, it was already pungent without adding him to the mix. Lee swore that if he made it out of here alive, he is going to verify the plan before jumping into a barrel. Oh and probably smack Naru for getting them into this situation to begin with.
Minutes went by as the sounds of breathing filled the air.
And then as quick as it happened, it ended. They were set down hard and then pushed until the barrel came to a halt up against something solid.
"Right, that's the last one for this side then...alright, everyone back to base. Hurry it up, don,t want to be caught slackin here...let's go, blast is set to go off in five minutes..." A voice yelled as it got smaller and smaller.
A moment of silence.
"Hinata, are we alone?"
" Hai, it looks like everyone has left. "
"Oh, sweet merciful Kami, let's open this baby up and get the he'll inside gate shall we."
A thunderous crash as the barrel literally blew apart. Three jelly scented kids crawled out from the wreckage and greedily breathed in the clear and crisp night air.
Getting to their feet the trip raced for the gate and tried to push it open. Except it didn't budge.
"Naru? What's going on, why isn't the gate opening?"
She looked at the intricate patterns on the gate and frowned. "They destroyed some of the matrix for the seal...probably when the pushed the barrels up against it." She chewed her lip as Lee started to panic behind her.
"Are you saying we are stuck here. Naru, there is highly explosive jelly all around us, what are we gonna do, we have less than four minutes until detonation!" He yelled.
"Can we make it to another gate?" Hinata asked. Lee shook his head.
" they're too far away, we'll never make it in time. "
"Maybe, we won't have to. Lee hand me a kunai, Hinata go on lookout, sound the alarm if you see anyone approaching or if you think the barrels are about to explode." She said, grabbing the kunai Lee handed her. "I can see the original design underneath the damage...I'm going to try and complete the seal so we can get in...if it doesn't work, I just wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate and love you."
Both have a nod and Lee spouted something about fire, doing and youth.
Naru squared her small shoulders, "alrighty then, showtime."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Meanwhile in front of the Hokage Tower.
Hundreds of mercenaries and army personal stood in near rows before the great red tower. Not a single person whispered, no one moved or shifted and all was focused on a single person standing at the very top.
The Shadow, clothes in black and impressive against the backdrop of the full moon, watched his army and smiled a smile so wicked.
He lifted up his hands, not unlike a priest to its following, and said in a voice so cold, "Here we stand my fellow men...in the ruins of a broken village in the land of fire. The first of many steps has been taken, with the fall of these wretched ninja, we seek to regain our supremacy! We are not nice my friends, oh no, we are the lions that devours the lamb. Since the dawn of chakra, we have been pushed around by those who take on the mantle of a benevolent hero...I say it's high time we govern for ourselves, what day you?!" He yelled out, his smile growing wider as a rhythmic chanting started up.
"This is the dawning of a glorious day, witness my power and greatness as the first example...!"
A sudden boom shook the very foundation of the lead village as mercs and army fought to stand against the violent wind that had picked up.
Clouds of smoke billowed up as great orange and red flames reached hungrily for the sky, licking away at the surrounding area.
Deeply entranced by the glow, black eyes mirroring the great blaze, the Shadow cackled maniacally.
"Witness the great village destroyed by the will of fire, hahaha...witness me! "
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Deep within the darkness, amidst the sound of dripping water a large metal gate stood. It's design was simple but clever in its capacity to hold back great evil.
Far behind those wrought iron bars, in the inky blackness, a large red eye slowly opened.
A voice, deep and masculine rang out into the empty space.
Now this is interesting!
A.N. Sorry for the extra long wait, I won't make excuses, I've really been neglecting my stories due to a number of reasons that I won't get into.
Anyways onto some trivia.
*Ikuchi: Japanese sea monster that is like a giant eel that floats above the water and covers ships in oil. In mythology, the crew of the ship would need to clear away the oil or the ship would sink.
*Oni: Popular Japanese monster that is ogre -like in shape and can be violent. They are usualy shown as more brutish and grotesque monsters.