No More Dead Heroes
Chapter 8: Calamity
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.
They had been on their way back to Konoha for a day now, but weren't even close to the hidden village yet. Last night the Sound-nin, Suzu Moriko, had woken up when they had stopped to rest for a while. None of them had gotten any sleep after that, as they all had to be on the lookout to make sure she didn't either escape nor murder them in their sleep. So, the next morning all of them except for Moriko had been dead on their feet.
Now that he thought about it; that had probably been her plan all along. Well, it was too late to worry about that now, they would just have to go with it and hope that she wouldn't try to make a break for it.
Lee yawned, rubbing his eyes as he did so. It was pure dumb luck that he didn't trip on the rock directly in his path and fall flat on his face. That would be sure to impress the strength of Konoha's fighters upon Moriko. Beside him, Tenten was walking as though dead. Both had been tired before, pulling an all-nighter hadn't exactly done wonders for them.
The only one even remotely alive was Gai, and that was only because it would take an avalanche to bury his spirits. Tenten, despite being so tired that it was a miracle she was still standing, had to restrain herself when Gai started to whistle. Even Lee, who idolized their teacher, gritted his teeth at the noise. Gai was oblivious to all this, marching happily along with Moriko under one arm.
He had given up on letting her walk after then tenth time she tried to run for it. Apparently news of Ibiki's prowess had even made it to the Sound. It was hard not to feel sorry for the girl though, no one wanted to get that close to Gai. Of course, when they remembered that she was a minion of Orochimaru, hell bent on destroying Konoha and preventing them from ever getting a decent night's sleep again, it became a whole lot easier to hate her.
And that whistling.
They kept walking, trying to ignore the piercingly shrill noise their teacher was emitting. How many more days of this did they have to endure? Lee tried to forget how much earlier they would get there if they just ran, but it was hard. Right now, being tired was the last thing on his mind, anything that would get him out of this situation sooner was fine by him.
Even if it somehow involved strangling Gai, or tying his forehead protector around his mouth. Not even sewing the Jounin's mouth shut sounded too radical to him by now, Gai should just be thankful he had run out of thread about a week ago, otherwise it would be curtains for the man's vocal cords, there was no doubt in Lee's mind there.
The more he thought about it, the more enticing the idea became.
He really needed a good lie down. Maybe for a week or two? Lee rolled his eyes, that wouldn't happen, not in a thousand years. They would probably have about three, maybe four, days in Konoha before Tsunade had another mission for them. Hopefully it would be a little simpler, or shorter, than this one had been; he didn't think he could take another one like this right away. He was actually considering strangling his hero.
Trying to take his mind off the annoyance walking behind him, Lee tried to figure out who would be in town while they were there. He knew Naruto wasn't due back for at least another two weeks, Shino and Kiba would have been and gone, and, with their luck, probably missed each other again. Sakura would have been and gone, and the same for Shikamaru and possibly Neji. He wasn't sure about Hinata, Ino, or Choji. Most likely they were going to be the only ones there.
How long had they been gone this time? Right, a month and a half, one of the longer missions that had been assigned. The only person he knew of that had been assigned longer was Naruto, but he was on a team of four Jounins, complete with a medic, so it made sense. That team had been given a three month long mission, one they were only 2 months and 1 week into. If that wasn't brutal he didn't know what was.
He knew, and Tsunade-sama must know, that it would only be so long before one of them snapped. Shinobi were, of course, trained to hold up under pressure, but there was only so much pressure one person could take before they cracked. And when that happened, Lee sure as hell didn't want to be anywhere near by. It had happened before, they had seen it, it could happen again. He wondered who would be next.
Neji maybe, he was already pushed to the edge because of that situation, and Tsunade-sama just kept sending him out on missions. Actually, the Hyuuga had volunteered for the last one. The mission in question had involved the hunting and killing of a pair of Sound-nin that had managed to sneak into the Hidden Sand, to take advantage of its vulnerability following the death of the Kazekage. The shinobi were apparently heading for one of Konoha's outlying Jounin camps next, one inhabited by four relatively inexperienced Chuunins, so it wasn't unlikely that the Sound-nins would win that fight. It hadn't been a surprise per say when Neji had volunteered, but that didn't make it any less worrying.
Another possibility was Shino; Lee knew the Chuunin was getting frustrated, what with missing Kiba by a matter of days four times in a row. These missions were stressful enough without having to worry another person, Lee knew that well enough, he couldn't begin to imagine what it was like when ever minute had you wondering if they were still alive. And then not being able to see them, touch them, and reassure yourself that they still existed, that they hadn't been killed quite yet.
Of course, Shikamaru wasn't completely unlikely either. Since his father had died, the Jounin had been having difficulties with his mother, but couldn't move out because he was afraid to leave her alone. Then he had the added stress of worrying about her when he was out on missions, because he couldn't count on her asking for help. But when he was home, they fought endlessly, Lee had seen that firsthand when, about two months ago now, their rest days had fallen at the same time and he had gone to Shikamaru's house for dinner one night. His mother had let out a steady stream of insults and snide remarks to not only Shikamaru, but Neji, Naruto, Kiba, Shino, Gaara, even himself. He didn't know how the Jounin put up with it; he would have left long ago.
Lee sighed, scuffing at the ground with one foot as he considered something. Tenten gave him a curious look, but, not getting any response, soon turned back to what she had been doing, namely, walking in a straight line, concentrating on not falling over. Lee yawned again, blinking his eyes sleepily. It was all too clear now that he thought about it.
It's always the quiet ones that lose it first.
"Iruka-sensei?" Kiba asked, cradling his left arm against his chest. It had been just over a day since they fought Isamu, and the ache in his arm hadn't subsided at all. Of course, if he hadn't been stupid enough to get caught in the Sound-nin's trap, it never would have been broken in the first place. He was just glad Iruka had reacted so fast, otherwise he would have gotten a lot more than just his arm broken. Thankfully the school teacher had managed to defeat Isamu, and upon the Sound-nin's death, they had discovered that he had also killed the thief they had been after. Iruka had taken the scroll they were after and put it in one of his pouches. That was one less problem for them to deal with at least.
Iruka turned to look at the younger Chuunin, a small smile on his face. Kiba could tell it hurt him to talk still, what with his broken ribs and all. "You know you don't have to call me that Kiba-kun, I haven't been your teacher for a long time. Besides, there probably isn't much I could teach you anymore. Except maybe how to spot a trap."
Kiba grinned wolfishly. "It wasn't too bad, I'm just glad Akamaru didn't get hurt." He patted his dog on the head, smiling as Akamaru pressed against his hand. They had been resting here since yesterday, to give their wounds at least a little time to heal before they headed off again. At least this time they would be heading back to Konoha. By the time they got back they would have only been gone for a week and a half, if that, by far Kiba's shortest mission to date. "Maybe Shino won't have left again by the time we get back." He mused quietly.
"Maybe." Iruka agreed, dusting his hands together to get the dirt off. "Think you can run with your arm like that?" He asked, getting to his feet slowly, wincing as his ribs were pulled.
"Think you can run with your ribs like that?" Kiba retorted, knowing full well what the answer would be. It really didn't matter what condition their bodies were in though, both of them couldn't wait to be home, even if for different reasons. Iruka because he wanted to get back to the Academy, Kiba because he was holding onto the tiny chance that Shino would still be there.
"Nope." Iruka said cheerfully. "Well then, shall we go?" He put his hands on his hips, beaming expectantly at Kiba. Kiba just rolled his eyes and unzipped his jacket for Akamaru. Once the dog had settled himself comfortably, Kiba got to his feet uncertainly, making a face when his arm was jostled. The makeshift sling Iruka had made for him was all well and good when he was sitting, but he doubted it would hold up when they started to really move.
"You're far too cheerful for a man who's just had half his ribs smashed." Kiba grumbled, clutching his arm to his chest over top Akamaru, trying to ignore the awkward angle it had set itself at. Neither he nor Iruka were particularly keen on dabbling in a little field surgery; they would happily leave that to the professionals back at Konoha Hospital.
The brunette sobered, putting a reassuring hand on Kiba's shoulder. "We can take it slowly if your arm is hurting you too much. You don't have to rush home if you aren't up to it, he'll understand."
Kiba shrugged Iruka's hand off, turning away from the older Chuunin. "I'll be fine." That had sounded too much like pity for his liking, his arm would be fine once they got moving; it would have to be, because he wasn't stopping. Not even if his arm fell right off.
Iruka gave him a concerned look but didn't say anything. There was no point in arguing with Kiba when he was like this, he knew the boy well enough to know that much at least. He would just have to keep an eye on him, make sure he wasn't overdoing it too much. But if it got too bad, he would find a way to make him stop.
Shino shivered, even through his coat he could feel the brisk wind that insisted on blowing through the trees every few minutes. For the beginning of May, it was still far too cold in his opinion. Unfortunately, his sweat from running all of yesterday and last night didn't help to warm him at all. Hopefully the fact that he had yet to stop for a break longer than five minutes meant that the hunter-nins were further behind and Kiba was closer ahead. He couldn't count on either however.
Sometime late yesterday he had run out of explosive notes and had had to rely on wire traps to try and delay the hunter-nins, and those took him far longer to set, largely defeating the purpose of putting them down in the first place. So, he hadn't set a single trap since dawn, something that would probably come back to bite him, but he hadn't really had much choice.
If he caught up with Kiba soon, things would be alright. Of course they would be, otherwise what was he doing here? He didn't stop to think about how Iruka and Daiki would respond when they found out he was a missing-nin. Hell, he didn't stop to think about how Kiba would react. It was still hard for him to believe actually, and from time to time he caught himself wondering how Sakura was, even though he had decided not to focus what he had done.
Blinking back the tears the wind had caused, Shino stopped before he tripped or miss-stepped. It was a good thing he had. A little black bug beat it's wings furiously until it was hovering just in front of Shino's face. He held out a hand for it to land on and wiped his streaming eyes in the same movement. Listening for what the bug had to say, Shino glanced around the area he had stopped in; what was that smell? Thick and metallic, familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, it was still too faint.
When the bug had finished, he looked at it sharply. A body… So it was blood then. He felt mildly ashamed of himself for not recognizing it immediately; he was around the stuff more often then not. "Where?" He demanded, lifting his hand even closer to his face, trying to stop the shaking. His mind was working in overdrive, insisting loudly that if it was Kiba, he would have known somehow, no matter how irrational this was in actuality. The little bug buzzed off his finger and Shino followed it nervously, shoving his shaking hand into a pocket.
Once he was on the ground, he was able to push through the bushes rather easily, which allowed him to finally catch his breath after a day and a half of running. By now, the smell of blood was strong enough, and getting stronger with every step he took, that he felt faintly sick. When at last he stumbled across the body, he felt a wave of relief wash over him, and his hand stopped trembling. It wasn't Kiba.
But, it was Daiki. And the body was at least a day old. Which meant Kiba could be anywhere. He could be already dead for all Shino knew; which was not a comforting thought at all. Shino stared at the school teacher's body for a minute, studying it. It looked like his chest had been stabbed in three different places, and his throat had been slashed as an after thought. Who ever had done this to the Chuunin was not a very skilled assassin.
Shino considered the body for a moment longer, but turned away. There was no time to give the man a proper burial, no matter how much he may deserve it. If he caught up with Kiba, he would make sure to come back with the other Chuunin, so they could return Daiki's body to the village and the man's family, if he had any. He held out a hand for the bug that had led him here, and as soon as it had landed, he concentrated chakra to his feet. Choosing a tree, he walked up the trunk until he was as high up in the forest as he had been before coming across Daiki's body. The only evidence of how the discovery of the Chuunin's body had shaken him was the burned footprints in the bark he had walked up.
If the school teacher was dead, then it was very likely that his killer had used henge to disguise himself and travel with the other two on the team. Hopefully Kiba's superior nose, the reason he had been chosen for this particular mission, would be able to spot the difference before it was too late. If not, well, he would just have to count on the Inuzuka's fighting skills and Iruka's calm head to keep the pair out of trouble wouldn't he?
At least now he knew he had been right to worry, he could use this to justify what he had done to Sakura. Shino shivered, placing one hand on the reassuring solid of the tree trunk. He had actually just considered using a Konoha shinobi's death to his advantage, to get him off the chopping block. What sort of disgusting creature had he been turned into?
It was too easy to blame this change in character on the war, on the stress he had been under since its start last September, seven months ago now. But what else could it be? The war had been the only thing in his life since it started, except, of course, for Kiba, but he hadn't seen the Inuzuka in four months, so that didn't really count did it?
All he knew was that he was getting further and further away from his old self, and he wasn't even sure if he would ever be able to go back.
Naruto imagined that this was what it would feel like if he caught on fire. Like every nerve in his body was burning, like all he could think about was how very fast his heart was beating, like all he could do was listen to his mind screaming 'Get out! Get out!'. But there was no way out.
So he just stared at the boy who had once been both his best friend and greatest rival all in one. A boy who, despite being a shadow of his former self, was still recognizable for who he had once been. A boy who had caused a damn lot of heartache for Naruto since he had left, four years ago now. And it hurt more than Naruto cared to admit to see the aloof Uchiha just standing there, smirking at him like nothing had changed.
He could feel the eyes of the Sound-nins on him, could hear the quiet whispers they passed amongst themselves, asking who this boy was that he could bring out him. But Naruto didn't care, he was used to whispers, used to stares, all that mattered right now was that Sasuke was standing here, in front of him, and he wasn't dead yet. He had imagined this moment many times, but it had always ended the same; with Sasuke apologizing, and explaining that it hadn't been his choice to join Orochimaru, that it had been a mission, a mission only he could do, that that was why he had left Naruto, and Sakura, and all of Konoha behind.
That wasn't going to happen this time; he knew that. This time, it would end with Naruto, Genma, Kakashi, and Shizune either dead, or prisoners of Orochimaru. There were going to be no apologies, no explanations. There was only them, two boys, who had once been friends, before the thirst for power had driven them apart. And now? Now they were enemies, fighting on opposite sides of this war, and Naruto couldn't let old friendships stand in the way now.
He would have to fight like he did all other battles; like the other side didn't have friends or family, like they had been made for the sole purpose of being killing machines, which, he supposed, some of them had been. Hell, he knew some people like that himself, or had known rather. To a certain extent that was what he himself was.
Naruto had realized years ago that he wasn't going to get a happy ending, that he was going to go down fighting, and that there would be no one crying over his body when he was gone. He had lost any chance for that when he had failed to bring Sasuke home. But at least that made sense, these feelings, tearing at his heart even now, telling him that he couldn't kill Sasuke; that he could still bring him back, they didn't.
Sasuke had betrayed him, betrayed his trust, betrayed their friendship, he knew that. There should be no reason for him to want to bring the Uchiha home, but there was. He couldn't forget the way things had been, the way things could have been, no matter how much Tsunade-sama and the others tried to explain that things were different, that things couldn't go back. Naruto had nodded along with what they said, agreeing until they left him alone, but he refused to believe it.
Now he had three other people depending on him to fight Sasuke; three people that he knew and respected, liked even, three people that knew and respected him. Was he prepared to let them down for a dream?
Naruto scuffed one foot against the ground, his eyes not leaving Sasuke's. They were their normal black, either he didn't want to fight, or he didn't think he needed the Sharingan against them. Judging by the amount of shinobi surrounding them, Naruto felt fairly justified in concluding that it was not the first reason. He bristled slightly at the insult, but didn't stir, Sasuke would have to make the first move, no matter how much he would like to see the other shinobi pay for what he had done to his friends, he would not be responsible for starting this fight.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Genma shift his center of balance slightly to the left, apparently Sasuke had too, because suddenly the Sharingan was there, and all it took was a flicker of those eyes, and Genma collapsed where he stood. Naruto flinched, so he had learned that technique then. He was on his own now, Kakashi, Shizune, and Genma were all down for the count, and he couldn't fight off the Sharingan now. He remembered what Kakashi had told him, two years ago now, after he had returned from training with Jiraiya. The Copy Ninja had guessed correctly that he had wanted to go after Sasuke, and had decided that a little talk was in order. It was then that Naruto had learned that there were secrets about the Sharingan that even Kakashi didn't know, secrets that meant he wouldn't be able to fight Sasuke until he learned what they were, and how to combat them.
And then the Jounin had told him about that technique. The technique that allowed the Sharingan user to force an opponent to live moment over and over again, for as long as they wished, but the in reality it would last mere seconds. The technique that only those with Uchiha blood and an unquenchable thirst for power could learn. Unfortunately, this made Sasuke the prime candidate. He had also told him that this technique damaged more than just a shinobi's body, but their mind as well, and it took a long time for them to recover from it.
Naruto wondered momentarily what Genma had seen. But that didn't matter now did it? He was faced with at least fifty opponents of varying strengths, not to mention Orochimaru's prized student, who had once been his best friend, and all that lay between him and death was three unconscious Jounins.
Well fuck that. He had said back then that he would take Sasuke back at all costs, even if he had to break the other boy's arms and legs. And he had been prepared to do it too, if he had thought it would help. If he could do that, why couldn't he fight Sasuke now? Here was the cause for so much heartache, standing here, right in front of him, just waiting for him to try something. Right now, he hated to admit it to himself, but he really couldn't care less if Sasuke got hurt. He would do what he had to do, and if Sasuke got in the way, well, that was just too bad for him wasn't it?
He would never let it be said that Uzumaki Naruto gave up without a fight.
a/n: O.o I did it again! Except this time I went over by about a thousand… That was, oh, I don't know, 4200 words approximately. And I even switched the layout of the next couple chapters so that it wouldn't be pushing five thousand words! –sigh- Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do about 9 and 10, as they have been slightly skewed thanks to my inability to know when to stop…
AvaStar: Here it is, hope it's to your liking. And yes, SASUKE! He'll be around for a while, no worries. And I think I may have just totally screwed up the timeline again. Well, I'll just have to hash it out, won't I? –sigh–
Unknown-Dreams: He is fun, isn't he? And yeah, I torture them, its fun! Don't worry, you won't ever have to wait long, I'm about two or three chapters ahead of what's posted.
Hujin: Maybe, maybe not… I'm sorry to say there is a lot in store for poor Neji-kun. And as for Naruto, you're just going to have to wait and see. –winks–
Tsugath: Well that's good, because they just keep getting longer and longer… And no, he hasn't. I know he can switch every three years, but he said he wanted Sasuke to grow up, so lets pretend he's letting him grow until he's eighteen, and then it's curtains (He's sixteen right now, turning seventeen in a few months, since it's only May right now. The others from his year are either sixteen or seventeen depending on when their birthdays are, and so on and so forth).
Starry096: Think so? Thanks!