No More Dead Heroes
Chapter 4: Perseverance
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.
When Tenten and Gai returned with not one but two ANBU members, Rock Lee considered drowning himself in the puddle he was sitting in.
Only upon realizing that could be considered slightly counter productive in some societies did he decide that it wasn't exactly an advisable course of action.
But that didn't mean he had to like working with these "elite" shinobi.
He was probably just as good as them.
Just because he was still only a Chuunin…
Damn ANBU.
Lee sighed; he hated how bitter this war had made him, but it was hard to stay eternally cheerful and optimistic when he saw the strongest people he knew being crushed one by one.
If people like Neji could be broken by war, what was going to stop it from doing the same to him?
Sure, he had dealt with emotional anguish before, but that didn't mean he was immune to it now.
Maybe, just maybe, if he outperformed the ANBU members now, Tsunade would promote him as well.
And maybe, just maybe, if that happened, he wouldn't just be a footnote in history.
When Gai introduced him to the two ANBU, Lee just nodded stiffly, causing Tenten to give him a worried look when their teacher wasn't looking.
For some reason, Lee couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye.
Maybe it was because he knew he was being petty.
"Lee-kun? Lee-kun, are you listening to Gai-sensei?" Tenten asked, nudging the dark haired boy with her elbow when he didn't respond. "You need to know what we're doing Lee, you can't just charge in there like Naruto would. The ANBU have a plan."
Lee clenched one fist tightly before nodding. "I'm sorry Gai-sensei, I was just… thinking. I will pay more attention now."
One of the ANBU, wearing a white coat and a dog mask, glanced at the Jounin leader, who nodded, before explaining.
"There are five enemy shinobi, all at Chuunin level. They have presumably been in this camp for at least a week, possibly far longer, considering the last patrol that came out this far left over a month ago. As all five are from the village of the Hidden Sound, we can assume that some of their jutsus involve the manipulation of sound in one way or another. To avoid having our eardrums burst, which Gai-san tells me almost happened to you a few times already, we will all go in wearing earplugs. Gai-san also tells me that Tenten-chan specializes in throwing weapons, while Lee-kun uses only taijutsu.
"Of course, we have to take into account Lee-kun's injuries, and Tenten-chan's previous damage to her inner ear, which will not only throw off her balance and thus her ability to throw shuriken and other weapons, but make her more susceptible to their attacks."
Lee had a pretty good idea where this was going.
"So Gai-san, Midori-chan, and I decided that you two will wait here until we take care of the Sound-nins."
"Kaburo, I told you just yesterday that you and Rin cannot horde the smoke bombs, you have to share them with the girls and Takumi. Remember, one of the things you five are here to learn is team work." Hinata was getting exasperated; the five Genins just refused to listen to a word she said.
They had been sweet enough for the first day, but after that?
The only thing they would be good for in battle at this rate was annoying the enemy once they were taken prisoner.
Then again, that was why she was here wasn't it?
"Once the month is over I'm going to take you back to Konoha, and you will be placed into three man teams. The work you do with them is going to make this feel like summer camp."
"Hinata-sensei?" The quietest of the five, the boy Takumi, raised his hand shyly. When she nodded he continued, speaking so softly that she had to lean in to hear him properly. As nice as it was to be able to see in 360 degrees, supersonic hearing would have helped a lot. "How will the teams be chosen?"
The other four Genins immediately fell silent.
Hinata sighed; of course, the moment she stumbled across a topic they were interested in, they were quiet as mice.
"The other two Chuunin teachers and myself will compare notes on your performance this month, and we will pair you up so that all five teams are approximately equal in their overall strength." Hinata told them, and, sensing a long discussion, slid a kunai out of one of her holsters and started twirling it absentmindedly.
"Will we have Jounin teachers, or more Chuunins? Because my dad told me that Hokage-sama hasn't promoted enough Chuunins this year to make up for all the deaths in the Jounin ranks, and that unless she starts making better choices Konoha is going to-"
Hinata flinched.
Talk about straight to the point.
She interrupted before Kohaku could finish and scare the others. Besides, it wasn't really a subject she was comfortable with.
"You will have Chuunin teachers. Jounins cannot be spared now, as they are needed on the battlefield to stop the enemy from advancing. They can't be bothered with the care of three rookies as well. I will be one of the teachers, as well as Ino-sensei, Choji-sensei, Nanashi-sensei, and Jirosa-sensei. And if one of us gets promoted,"
Which wasn't going to happen anytime soon, but they didn't need to know that.
"Then another Chuunin will take over so that the Jounin can take the higher level missions."
They definitely didn't need to know that Konoha was running out of Chuunins just as fast as they were Jounins.
Shikamaru shivered as a cold wind blew threw the streets of Konoha, driving what villagers had still been outside back into their houses for the night. This vest just didn't cover enough skin at all, he would have to remember to take a heavier jacket with him tomorrow, or he would freeze before they were even out of sight of the village watch towers.
Which reminded him that he really shouldn't be dawdling out in the empty streets, but back at his house, attempting to explain things to his mother while he packed. Shikamaru sighed; this was not going to be fun at all, she was already mad enough that he had gone out to met Neji, him going on a mission with the ANBU probably wouldn't make her day.
He really couldn't understand why his mother didn't like the Hyuuga; he was practically a model citizen. Well, when he was here anyway.
Blowing on his hands to try and warm them, Shikamaru wondered why it was so urgent that they find out how much better equipped with fighters the Hidden Mist was that they had to leave tomorrow. Which meant he would have to wake up early. Like five o'clock early.
It wouldn't even be light out then. Well, it wouldn't be too bad in the village with the street lights, but it would be pitch black until the sun rose, not to mention incredibly cold and windy once they were outside of the gates.
Then he really would be on his own with the brooding Hyuuga.
Maybe he would be better off freezing.
He and Neji were friends; at least they had been when the ANBU still spoke. Now their conversations were filled with awkward silences and he couldn't count on his traitorous mouth not to trip on a word or two here and there.
Neji really had changed since that incident.
And Shikamaru knew he wasn't the only one who missed the old Neji. All of their friends were worried about the Hyuuga, and if he would ever snap out of it. And despite what her actions might lead one to believe, Tsunade had to be too. He expected that Neji had gotten a full blown lecture from the Godaime before she had admitted him into the ranks of the ANBU, something that may not have been advisable, but was too late to change now, if that tattoo on the Hyuuga's shoulder was anything to judge by.
Everyone knew depressed shinobi weren't quite as cautious as they should be.
And Neji couldn't afford not to be cautious, not when he relied so much on the Byakugan. Despite Gai-sensei's warnings of what sort of repercussions that could have in the future, Neji hadn't worked at all to broaden his skill base. If anything, he had started to rely even more on the Byakugan. Shikamaru knew Gai hadn't been too pleased that his advice had been ignored, but there wasn't much any of them could do to argue with the Hyuuga, who seemed to have inherited his father's stubbornness.
Unfortunately, if an enemy should ever notice his weak spot, he was in a lot of trouble. That had already been proven to them, and if it hadn't been for Tsunade and her skill as a medic, well, who knows what might have happened?
Shikamaru hadn't forgotten what had happened four years ago, and he doubted Neji had either. Even though they hadn't really been friends back then, he had come far too close to losing the Hyuuga…
The Jounin stopped dead in the street.
Well fuck.
"Kakashi?"
Nothing.
"If you open your eyes in the next thirty seconds I'll throw away my senbon."
Still nothing.
"Y'know, I have the latest volume of Icha Icha Paradise in my pocket…"
Not even a twitch. Something was seriously wrong.
It had to be, everyone knew Kakashi couldn't resist his dirty novels. Rumor had it that he had once camped out for a week in front of a store, scaring off all their other customers until they agreed to start carrying the series.
He would never let a little thing like being unconscious get between him and one of those books.
Genma sighed; looks like he was stuck with two comatose Jounins then. Well, as long as he found a way to get Kakashi off him before Naruto got back, everything would be just peachy.
If not…
He shivered; he didn't even want to think about that.
That kid had had just the worst luck with teachers. First Kakashi, then Jiraiya? It was really a miracle he hadn't been turned into a pervert yet.
Of course, with those two as his teachers, it was only natural that he assume the worst in any situation that was less than totally and completely innocent.
Having an unconscious shinobi sprawled across you was not one such situation.
Where was Naruto anyway? He should have been back a while ago now, but Genma couldn't exactly go and look for him. He hoped the blond hadn't run into any trouble, because he would not do the sensible thing and retreat; oh no, he would prefer to take on ten Sannin level opponents than run away from a fight.
What had Uchiha called him?
Oh right, dobe.
Y'know, that boy had really been onto something there.
Before he went evil and all that is.
Genma sighed again; he was really starting to get worried here. Naruto was supposed to have been back at least an hour ago, and they were going to switch so that Genma wouldn't go stir crazy sitting in one place for so long. Of course, Naruto didn't need to know that he had been the one driving Kakashi insane.
Which reminded him that it was entirely his fault that he currently had an unconscious Jounin in his lap.
Who was getting heavier by the second.
Well what do you know, even in the middle of a war his luck could always take a turn for the worse.
What had he done?
What had he been thinking?
Well, obviously, he hadn't been.
Shino wrapped his arms around his torso, trying to stop the shaking. He was standing under the cover of a shop roof, unable to keep going while he was this disturbed; the rain just made it even less inviting.
He had just poisoned Sakura. Poisoned her. He had no way of knowing how her body would react to that bite, no way of knowing if she would even still be alive when her parents found her.
Was this what war did to people?
Or was it just him?
The Chuunin dug his nails into his jacket sleeves, his whole body quivering now. He leaned back against the wall, just in case his knees decided they didn't want to hold him up anymore.
He wouldn't blame them.
He was going to be hunted wasn't he?
Shino ducked his head further down into his jacket, hiding from… What? What was he hiding from?
Soon, the sirens would go off, and the village would go into a lockdown. Because of him. The siren system had been one he readily approved of, along with almost all of the village. It was designed so that as soon as anyone found the village's security to be compromised, the sirens would go off, alerting the rest of Konoha of the danger, sending them running into their houses.
He just couldn't handle this anymore. The only proof he had that Kiba was still alive was that Tsunade kept sending him out on increasingly dangerous missions.
Okay, that wasn't fair and he knew it. Kiba, like him, was a Chuunin, and damn good one. They had worked equally hard to get to where they were today, and he shouldn't be so worried about the Inuzuka; Tsunade wouldn't ever send one of her shinobi out on a mission she didn't think they could handle.
But some how this had progressed to the point that he had decided that the only reasonable thing to do was poison Sakura, a fellow Chuunin, not to mention a friend.
She could already be dead for all that he knew.
It was kind of hard to care.
He was more worried about himself and how being labeled a missing-nin would make it more difficult for him to catch up with Iruka, Daiki, and Kiba. Not only would he have to run double time, without breaks, and avoid being detected by enemy ninja from both the Sound and the Mist, but he would have to hide from his allies, people he had worked and lived with all his life.
All this would make it almost impossible for him to find Kiba.
Again, this made it kind of hard to care what happened to Sakura.
And that was what scared him.
a/n: Well I managed to get it up for today despite having to deal with a screwy internet connection… Stupid internet. Anyway, I hope I did better on Hinata this time but I still haven't got her nailed. Hopefully by now a few things are clearer? Or maybe not… -shrugs- I dunno, I'm just the author! Chapter Five is currently in the works, but it won't be done until tomorrow at least because of the damn internet (which wouldn't matter, but as I have no way to get it to my laptop… Yeah, you do the math). I'll try my hardest to have it up on time tomorrow. Oh, and please review! Reviews make the author very happy, which Ali, you can testify to…
EDIT: Well, it's working now! Happiness…
AvaStar: Yay! You reviewed again! –glomps- And of course I'll keep writing! Silly Ali… -shakes head- And I know, it's fun poisoning Sakura… I will try not to be too evil to her in the future though, not sure how well that will go.
Unknown-Dreams: Yes… Poor Sakura –makes face- Nah, I can imagine it would suck, and I agree, poor Shino, how could I do this to him? –smirks- I'm a bad person aren't I?