No More Dead Heroes
Chapter 2: Inquiry
It's war now, and yes, it's hell. Oh how the times have changed; there aren't many smiles in this hidden village anymore. People are being separated from their loved ones left and right, either by death or duty, and some are starting to lose what hope they had left. But some are still holding out for that better day, whether it's ever going to come or not.
"Is there no way Hokage-sama?" Shino wasn't usually one to question the Godaime's word, but even he could make an exception in extreme circumstances.
And if this wasn't extreme he want didn't know what was.
"No, I'm sorry Shino-kun. I know this is the fourth time in a row you have missed each other by a few days, but you know I don't have any choice, don't you? I needed someone with tracking skills in that party, and he was the only one available." It was times like these that Tsunade hated her job with a passion.
Her heart broke for these teenagers, trying to find their place in this world, but never being given the time to start. This unlikely pair, quiet, reserved Shino and loud, raucous Kiba, weren't the only ones to suffer this way.
And she couldn't even send the Chuunin in front of her off to join the team his boyfriend was on, because she had to send him in the opposite direction to scout out a possible Jounin camp area with just one other shinobi.
Damn it, they were stretched too thin!
Short of sending off the Genins alone, or dividing her fighters down the middle, there wasn't anything she could do about it either.
And she hesitated to ask for assistance from the Sand.
Not only had they recently lost their Kazekage, but their fighting force hadn't been as large to begin with. To take fighters from them would be like cutting her own throat.
How she wished she could tell the teenaged Chuunin that she would have someone else take his place on his mission, but there was no one else.
Kakashi, Genma, Naruto, and Shizune, the sole all Jounin team left, were fighting back Sound-nin at the Western Border. Hinata, Ino, and Choji had each taken five of the newest Genins to train at the ill-named Jounin camps (each camp, if they were lucky, had two Jounins at most, some had none). Kiba, Iruka, and another academy sensei were chasing a thief from the Hidden Mist, who had decided just over a month ago that they would rather ally themselves with Orochimaru and his puppets than Konoha, which, as much as she hated to admit it, was slowly being crushed.
Asuma, Kurenai, and six of the older Genins, no less than two years out of the academy, were patrolling the inside of Konoha's territory, making sure there weren't any pockets of enemy shinobi out there that she, as Hokage, didn't know about. Ibiki and his squad were, uh, questioning the enemy Mist shinobi they had already managed to capture, as well as one or two Sound-nin, but none of them had much hope for them, Orochimaru didn't like it when his subordinates knew too much. Anko had taken two teams of ANBU and was preparing them to attack the Sound, an attack that would take place once Kakashi and his team worked their way towards the ex-Orochimaru supporter.
Gai, Rock Lee, and Tenten were out on border patrol, picking off any stragglers. Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru were in the village until the day after tomorrow at the latest, when Sakura would join Shino in scouting out the camp area, which, although the Aburame didn't know it, he would be commanding once he was formally given his promotion, and the camp was built, which wouldn't take long at all. And Shikamaru and Neji were going into the Hidden Mist territory, to try and learn something about their military capabilities.
Even as she ran through these lists in her head, Shino was standing there with a passive expression on his face.
But Tsunade had not become the Godaime by being unobservant.
She would have to make sure Sakura kept an eye on the young Chuunin.
Tenten was breathing heavily when she finally caught up with Gai-sensei, who had apparently forgotten that she was not Lee, and could not run faster than the speed of sound.
She blinked, okay, probably not the best comparison given the situation, but she was tired thank you very much. She, Lee, and Gai-sensei had been working their way along the border for a month and a half now, picking off any enemy shinobi that had decided to set up camp either close to, or on the wrong side of it.
They had been doing pretty well for themselves if you asked her, and had beaten their last trip time by two weeks already.
What she wouldn't give to see civilization again, or at least a real toilet; they hadn't even stopped at a Jounin camp, with all their fancy outhouses and other such luxuries.
She had eaten so much fish she was honestly surprised that she hadn't started growing scales, or at least a bit of a tail.
But they had been working hard, and had managed to either kill of the enemies they encountered, or ship them back to Konoha with an ANBU or two to be questioned by Ibiki and his men and women.
Death was probably more humane.
And now Gai decided that they needed ANBU help to take out five inexperienced Sound scum. The Jounin had to be out of his mind, there just wasn't any other reasonable explanation.
Maybe this was a good indication that they needed a break.
They had only known that they should also keep Mist-nins out of Fire Country when an ANBU they had been working with had made a passing comment about the village. A rather ample amount of confusion and argument had followed, with both Lee and herself insisting, rather foolishly now that she looked back on the moment, that the Hidden Mist had no reason to attack them.
She didn't want to know how many Mist shinobi had slipped in because of their ignorance.
Tenten sighed; it really wasn't doing her any good to be thinking about all of this stuff, she ought to focus on how they were going to fight the Sound-nins without being left nearly completely deaf. She unconsciously brought one hand up to her right ear protectively. Last time they had quite nearly gotten in a crippling blow.
Thanks only to Lee's swift reaction time she hadn't been left permanently deaf, but her balance had been off for three or so days.
Which had proved almost fatal in it's self, considering how much she relied on her throwing weapons. It was thanks again to Lee that she wasn't lying dead in a ditch somewhere.
Speaking of which, was it really a good idea to leave someone who relied solely on their physical strength to keep them safe sitting half conscious in a ditch that close to the enemy?
"Neji-kun! Hey, Neji!" Shikamaru could feel the villagers' heads turning to follow his voice, watching with him as the Hyuuga walked down the street.
If any of them knew how out of character it was for him, Konoha's number one laziest ninja, to be yelling, they didn't say anything.
Neji didn't speed up, or even appear to notice his fellow Jounin at all. He just kept walking, his eyes on the dirt road, even more blank looking than usual, something that was difficult to achieve.
To say the Hyuuga hadn't been the same since that incident was an understatement of the most severe kind, bordering on an insult.
Not to say that Neji had been outgoing and bubbly before, but now? It was like he was just a puppet, with someone behind the scenes that none of them could see pulling the strings.
Seeing the mask in the boy's hand, Shikamaru realized his question was pointless. He had to wonder though, if the Godaime had known when she had given that to the Hyuuga just what his motives for being an ANBU were?
She had to have, they weren't exactly expertly hidden, and Tsunade was known for her observation skills. But, if that was the case, and she knew that he had become much like Sasuke, a shinobi living only for revenge, then why had she given him that title?
For all his genius, Shikamaru couldn't even begin to guess at the Sannin's reasoning.
Strangely enough, the Jounin didn't even have to hold out an arm to stop his seemingly comatose friend in his tracks, the ANBU instead met him halfway, coming to a halt no more than a few feet away from him.
"We're going into the Hidden Mist tomorrow. Hokage-sama wants us to investigate their military power." Neji said, lifting his head just enough to look Shikamaru in the eye. "Make sure you're ready to leave at eight tomorrow morning."
Shikamaru stared at him for a second, dumbstruck at this announcement. "Hang on, I only got back the day before yesterday, from a three week long mission, I can't leave my mother yet! She's already angry with me for coming out to meet…" He trailed off; it probably wasn't a good idea to tell Neji his mother's feelings concerning the Hyuuga, not if he wanted to get home in time to pack. Speaking of which… "How do you expect me to be ready by then!"
The ANBU shrugged. "I didn't assign the mission, talk to the Godaime if you have any complaints, but I doubt she'll listen. She did say to tell you she was sorry though; she seems to be saying that a lot lately."
Shikamaru sighed. Only to you Neji, only to you. In the past four months he had been on eight missions, a few only lasting a week or so, but most taking him at least three weeks. And in between all this, he had only been home for a week, total. Although, considering what he had left to come home to, he ought to be thankful… He sighed again. "No, no, I'll be ready. Meet me at my house at 7:45?"
"Whatever."
Shikamaru shook his head as he watched the ANBU walk away. Okay, on reflection, maybe that hadn't been his greatest idea to date; his mother was not going to be thrilled.
Genma sighed, flicking his senbon over to the other side of his mouth as he did so.
He, Kakashi, Shizune, and Naruto had been out here driving enemy shinobi away from the Western Border of the Fire Country for at least a month now, and still had to help launch an attack on the Sound village before they could go home again.
But now they were stuck here, waiting here for the enemy to move, in a small clearing near the border, and had been for three days already. He was quite close to going stir crazy if he saw just one more squirrel.
Either they hadn't been noticed yet, which would just be pathetic on the enemy's part, or they were planning an ambush, which did not bode well for them at all.
Add in the fact that they were seriously outnumbered, their medic was out of commission for the time being, and their Sharingan user was tired to the point of being almost completely unable to move, save for breathing, and even that was starting to look painful, and they were in a lot of trouble.
They couldn't try and sneak past the other ninjas, because they were completely surrounded in all directions. Fortunately, the teams were far enough away that they didn't have to be afraid of stumbling onto one of their camps if they went for a short walk.
Of course, maybe it would be better just to get it over with.
The senbon twitched. He could not believe he had just thought that.
What kind of coward was he?
As long as he and Naruto could still move and mold chakra, they had a chance, at least of being able to grab the other two Jounins and run for their lives, if not of being able to actually fight and if not win, do serious damage, and then make a run for it.
Reconnaissance on the first day that they had realized they were surrounded had told them that the shinobi around them were largely unremarkable, and all at a Chuunin level.
Genma would like to think that they could take a couple of Chuunins.
He just wouldn't think about what would happen if they couldn't; being a defeatist wouldn't get them anywhere, except for maybe dead. And none of them could afford that, especially considering they had the second strongest medic-nin in Konoha in their care, not to mention the village's sole Sharingan user.
But he wouldn't be reminding Naruto of that before they fought.
To say that would be counter-productive was an understatement.
A clinically depressed Jounin wouldn't do any of them any good.
a/n: Hey again! About the same length as last time, hopefully will get longer in the future… Anyway, sorry for not putting the warning on last time, but you'll notice I've added it, along with a few other warnings. Actually, the rating may go up eventually, as I seem to enjoy torturing the poor characters, which, obviously, I do not own (just covering there)… Hope no one was too offended last time, and sorry again for forgetting. I'm just stupid like that I guess.
Grummur: Sorry again! I'll try to keep the writing decent… And the characters in-character… Fingers crossed! And nope, you're wrong.
Miako: Thanks! And hopefully I'll get to it eventually, or you may have figured it out from this chapter… -shrugs- Either way.
SNA: Sorry, nope! That's not it either –grins-. Thanks, and I'll try a little harder with Hinata next time she shows up…