No More Dead Heroes

Chapter 14: Surreptitious

It's night time in Konoha, or it may as well be; hell and havoc are as thick as thieves. The census is in, and we're ready to get started. On the front line we have an Anbu who's got one thing, and one thing only, on his mind; a team of Jounins who are having an interesting encounter with the dead; a pair of Chuunins who are ready to kill for just one more chance; a Genin that doesn't seem to understand that this is reality; and Hokage who does all too well, and now gets to see it crumble before her very eyes. Now is the time for heroes to rise and take a stand, but the hero business is definitely not an easy one.

Genma was jolted awake by screaming. He blinked blearily before jerking his head off of his arms to try and find the source of all the noise. Shaking his head softly, in attempt to wake himself up enough that he wouldn't fall over when he tried to stand up, Genma sighed. Looked like Kakashi was awake then. Getting to his feet carefully, he hurried to the other Jounin's side. "Shh… Shh… It's all over." He put one hand out, to try and calm Kakashi down, but it didn't even make it to his arm. Kakashi was still sleeping, and apparently having another nightmare. This had happened every single night since he had been returned to them, but he had never started screaming before. His hand froze in midair, he knew, he wasn't sure how or where from, that he wasn't supposed to wake up someone who was have a nightmare. Tilting his head to the side, he watched the ex-Anbu scream.

A hand grabbed his forearm, and Genma nearly screamed himself. Some shinobi he was. Kakashi was sitting bolt upright, his eye open wide. "Sensei!" Now the Jounin was awake. He let go of Genma's arm and let both of his own fall to his sides. His shoulders were hunched forward and his entire body was shaking. Kakashi's remaining eye remained open and staring at seemingly nothing. Below his mask, which had remained on through this entire ordeal, his mouth had fallen open and was slack.

The Jounin's breath was coming in pants, and his face was pale, making the white of the bandage almost blend in completely. His hands where grabbing at the blanket that had been covering him for the past two days, and his knuckles were as white as his face. "Sensei." He whispered, closing his one eye briefly, as though in pain. Which, Genma supposed, he probably was. For one thing, he had just had an eye removed. Two, he knew that the Yondaime had been Kakashi's sensei as a Genin and Chuunin, and his death must have been hard.

He bit his lip for what must have been the thousandth time since they were captured, ignoring the dull pain as he reopened the cuts. Kakashi looked like he might keel over any minute, and he really didn't want to be alone again. Shizune was asleep, like he had been before Kakashi had woken him up with his screams, and Naruto was still sitting in the same spot, knees drawn up against his chest, one cheek resting on his knees. He himself had only managed to fall asleep a few hours ago, exhausted from keeping watch on the ex-Anbu for hours on end. It was hard even now to keep his eyes open, to not just lay back down and try to get at least a few more minutes of sleep. Surely Kakashi would be fine now, if he was awake, and no longer screaming. Surely he had already realized he only had one eye… Genma sighed, looked like he would be staying awake for a little longer after all.

"Kakashi, are you all-" He didn't get to finish, because at that moment, the tent flap opened, rustling as it was pushed out of the way. All he could see for a moment was two shadows against the moon, which was a huge crescent, hanging over the camp. And then the tent flap fell closed behind them and he wondered if there was any connection between this and why Kakashi had woken up screaming for his teacher tonight of all nights.

Outlined against the canvas tent flap were Uchiha Sasuke, and the former Yondaime of Konoha. Who, if Genma remembered correctly, and he was sure he did, had died almost seventeen years ago now, when he had sealed the Kyuubi in the boy who was sitting in the corner, muttering softly to himself. "These are the captives I told you about." Sasuke was saying, his voice emotionless even as his bright red eyes swept around the tent, first to Genma, who stared right back, then Shizune, still sleeping, to Kakashi, who didn't appear to have noticed their visitors, and then to Naruto, where they stayed.

The Yondaime was looking over them as well, his own blue eyes blank as he sized them up. "Who exactly are they, if I may be so bold Uchiha-san?" Genma flinched, turning ever so slightly so that he was directly facing the blond. There was no recognition on the Yondaime's face, of which he was strangely grateful. He wouldn't have been able to explain why that was if asked, but it was nice to know that he hadn't sided with Orochimaru with all of his memory still intact. Which brought Genma right back to the question of how the hell the Yondaime, long dead, was standing there right in front of him.

"The woman is Konoha's Godaime's assistant, the brunette is just an ordinary shinobi, nothing special about him," Genma bristled, but didn't take his eyes off of the Yondaime. "The silver haired one is an ex-Anbu, and an ex-Sharingan user," the smirk on the Uchiha's lips was unmistakable in his tone. "And the blond is the container for a demon fox. They are all Jounins, and the only all Jounin team left in Konoha. Orochimaru-sama has been after them for a while."

"Hmm…" The Yondaime was wearing the same thing he had been the day he had sealed the Kyuubi, with the exception of the green Konoha flack jacket, which wasn't a surprise to Genma. He doubted Orochimaru would allow his slaves to wear the clothes of his enemy. It was almost funny actually, as the Yondaime was the very embodiment of what Orochimaru hated about Konoha. It was him who had been chosen to become the next Hokage instead of Orochimaru, something the Sannin had never forgiven the Sandaime for.

Genma flinched, realizing something; it wasn't funny at all, it was sick. He had heard how Orochimaru had summoned the spirits of the Shodaime and Nidaime when he had fought the Sandaime at the Chuunin Exam all those years ago. Apparently he had improved the jutsu, because, while the man standing in front of him didn't appear to remember who he had been at all, he wasn't just a mindless killing machine either. Orochimaru must derive immense pleasure from having a man as great as this bow before him, not too mention the grudge he had against the Yondaime.

He didn't want to see the man who had once been his leader like this, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away. He wondered if there was anything they could do, anything at all, that would make him remember who he was, who he had been. Genma dropped his hand, letting it fall back to his side as he took a few tentative steps backward, away from Sasuke and the Yondaime. Damn he wished Shizune would wake up, she was the only other one who was even close to lucid, and she was practically unconscious. He had hoped that Sasuke showing up might have snapped Naruto out of whatever was wrong with him, but apparently not. "I want to question them Uchiha-san. Orochimaru requested that I be allowed to." Genma turned from the Yondaime to Sasuke, to see his reaction to the Yondaime's demand.

The Uchiha didn't blink, but turned his crimson eyes away from Naruto to consider the Yondaime for a moment. "What was he thinking?" Sasuke hissed quietly, but not quietly enough, because both Genma and the Yondaime heard them. Genma smirked, apparently whatever Orochimaru had done to the Yondaime, it wasn't foolproof. Maybe, just maybe, if Sasuke left them alone with him, they would be able to do something.

Of course, it would be nice if Shizune woke up, or if Kakashi and Naruto came out of whatever trances they were in. "Ah, Sasuke-kun, surely you don't have a problem with your prisoners being questioned for your master?" Genma asked, praying his voice wouldn't crack. He watched the Uchiha carefully, not bothering to hide his amusement when the missing-nin flinched. Though, he wasn't sure if it was because of him addressing him in such a familiar way, or from being reduced to Orochimaru's slave. God how he hoped it was the second.

"No, no, but you ought to." Sasuke replied, and he nodded to the Yondaime before backing out of the tent with one last glance at Naruto. The tent flap rustled close and Sasuke's shadow could be seen retreating. Genma breathed a little easier, and, ignoring the Yondaime as best he could, went over to Shizune. Kneeling beside the medic, he shook her shoulder slightly, hoping she wouldn't scream.

"Ah, Shizune, we have a… visitor. You need to wake up and help me deal with Kakashi." Genma said softly, wishing he had a senbon to take his mind off of who it was that was looking over his shoulder. Shizune blinked her eyes slowly, and brought one hand up to rub the sleep out of them. Rocking back on his heels, Genma got to his feet carefully before offering her a hand.

Taking it, she pulled herself up, and glanced around the tent. "What's this you said about a visitor Genma? You better not be pulling my leg or its curtains for you. I was having a nice dream that we were back in Konoha, and the war was over. There were balloons and every- AHHH!" Genma winced; there was nothing quite like a woman's scream to grate on your nerves. Though, considering, she had every right to yell. "Genma, what is he doing here!"

Genma looked down, tracing patterns in the dirt with his eyes, not sure how to answer the medic's question. "I-I don't know. He came in with Uchiha, and he-he doesn't know Shizune." Genma wasn't sure who he meant by that, whether he was referring to the Yondaime not remembering who he was, or to Kakashi not being coherent enough to notice his former teacher. Considering something, the Jounin glanced at Kakashi, long enough to see that his remaining eye was closed, tears flowing from it freely.

"I don't understand Genma." Shizune admitted, glancing furtively at the Yondaime, who was looking around the tent with a sneer that didn't quite fit his face. Either he hadn't heard them talking, or he didn't care enough to acknowledge it. "What has Orochimaru been doing? How could this even be possible? I mean, I know he raised the Shodaime and the Nidaime to fight the Sandaime, but that was different, they were just puppets who looked like them, and could use their power. This," She gestured at the Yondaime with one hand, not taking her eyes off Genma. "This is real. It's actually him, soul and all."

Sighing softly, Genma put a hand on Shizune's shoulder. "I don't understand it either, but I'm hoping that maybe there's someway we can make him remember. I'm not sure it's even possible, but Sasuke didn't look very comfortable with leaving him here alone, so we just have to hope that maybe, just maybe, it could happen. Otherwise this fight is going to get a hell of a lot harder." He bit his lip again, hating himself even as he tried to force the thought out of his head. But it was hard; he couldn't help but wonder who else Orochimaru had called up from the grave. It was likely, if he had brought anyone else back, that it would be people who would not only affect them physically, like the Yondaime, but emotionally, making it just that much harder for them to fight back. He sighed again. "We should probably try and get Kakashi-"

"What's wrong with him?" The Yondaime asked, looking over Genma's shoulder at the ex-Anbu with curiosity. Genma stifled the urge to jump right out of his skin, clenching his teeth as he turned his head slightly to face the blond. The sneer was gone, and his head was tilted so he could see Kakashi better. A few strands of blond hair had fallen in his face, and it was then that Genma realized that the Yondaime wasn't a day older than when he had died.

"Uchiha had his medics remove his left eye, so that he couldn't use the Sharingan anymore." Genma said, turning away from the Yondaime to look at Kakashi, who might as well have been asleep. He wondered how he was going to get the Jounin to snap out of it, he doubted shaking him was going to do much good. And then he remembered a story Naruto had told them a while ago, during a particularly boring mission. He smirked, and moved one had slowly towards Kakashi's mask. He was only two inches away from the black cloth when a hand reached up and grabbed his wrist. Genma might have laughed, but there were five fingernails digging into his skin.

He glanced down; the hand holding his arm was white, completely drained of blood as it clamped down on his wrist in terror. Kakashi's one eye was open wide, wider than he had ever seen it before. The horror on the man's face was evident despite the cloth over his mouth and the bandage over his left eye socket. He was surprised that the Jounin hadn't screamed yet. "Ah, I'm sorry, what was your name again?" The Yondaime asked, staring at Kakashi with a confused look on his face. "And what's wrong with him? He looks like he's seen a ghost."

Genma laughed, unable to stop himself in time. Shizune and the Yondaime were staring at him, and he thought he heard Naruto stir in the corner, but he couldn't stop. He knew there was very little to be laughing about in a situation such as this, but it felt like if he didn't laugh soon, he would fall apart. This was just too much, anyone would crack if they were in his place, it would be hard not to. He was laughing so hard he was crying now, and he could feel everyone's eyes on him, with the exception of Kakashi, who couldn't stop staring at the man who had once been the Hokage of Konoha and his teacher. Even Naruto had given up muttering to himself in a corner to stare as his teammate went insane. Genma just couldn't understand why he was the only one laughing.

Finally, he managed to get himself under control. Holding a hand to his chest as he tried to catch his breath, Genma nodded to Naruto. "Nice to see you've joined us again." He said dryly, watching as the blond stood up and walked over to them, giving the Yondaime a curious look as he passed him. His lips twisted into a bitter smile as Naruto's eyes rested on Kakashi, staring at the white bandage covering most of the left side of his face. Understanding dawned on the Jounin's face, and he put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. There was no indication that Kakashi even felt it.

"What's going on?" Kakashi asked quietly, his voice rough and emotional as he stared openly at the Yondaime with distress. Naruto looked back and forth from Kakashi to the Yondaime, clearly confused. Finally, he focused on the Yondaime, looking him up and down, obviously trying to figure out who he was. Genma smirked, noticing again the resemblance between the two. He wondered now whether Sasuke had been the only reason Kakashi had also ended up with Naruto on his team, or if someone had been trying to make a point. If it was the second, it had been unnecessarily cruel.

Naruto glared at Genma as though he had been hiding the man's identity from him as a part of some evil plan. "Who is this?" He asked accusingly, his hand dropping from Kakashi's shoulder to rest on his hip, the other soon following. Genma looked at the young Jounin, mildly amused. Biting his lip as he considered something, he glanced at Shizune, who nodded slightly. Hoping that she had been thinking the same thing he had, and that he wasn't about to completely ruin just about everything, Genma smirked again.

"Why Naruto, don't you recognize the Yondaime? He died the day you were born."

Tsunade paced the length of her office, crossing back and forth in front of the windows. It was May 9th. It had been exactly a week since Aburame Shino had been proclaimed a missing-nin, and when she said exactly, she meant exactly, it was twelve thirteen am, and she had been dragged out of her wonderfully comfortable and warm bed to meet with a group of hunter-nins and their quarry.

So here she was, at midnight, pacing her office, with a pair of Anbu guards outside the doors, and two hunter-nins standing on either side of a handcuffed Shino in front of her desk. She could honestly say that, just a week ago, she would have never expected this. Shino had always been reliable, if kind of quiet. He had been the perfect shinobi, who obeyed without question, but was smart enough, strong enough, and resourceful enough to do what needed to be done, even if it went against the mission parameters, or the orders he had been given.

And then she had pushed him just a little too far, and he had snapped. He wasn't the first one to do so, oh not by a long shot, but others had never gone quite this far. Others had rebelled quietly, breaking small rules, or yelling at her, but not Shino. No, he had poisoned a teammate, killed half a squad of hunter-nins and his former teacher, and burnt down a forest. That was not a quiet rebellion; it was much closer to a bloody revolution really.

There was one punishment for missing-nins who were recovered and one only. What was it about that year that made them so difficult to control? Already two of the nine had been missing-nins, and one of them was an S Class criminal in the Bingo Book. Another had to be kept under careful watch so that he didn't chase after aforementioned S Class missing-nin. Not to mention another member of that year who would probably attempt to assassinate her when she announced Shino's sentence, and another who would was just as close to losing it. If only Lee and Neji had been born a year later, they would have completed the nightmare.

Tsunade stopped pacing and turned to face the three tired shinobi. One hand on her hip, she nodded to the hunter-nins. "You two may leave, I want to speak to Aburame on my own." Bowing, the pair backed out of the doors, presumably to get some sleep before they were sent out on another mission. Tsunade considered Shino for a minute, pursing her lips. The teenager looked completely drained, and his clothes were a mess. The sunglasses he had worn ever since she had met him and presumably long before were gone, leaving a pair of tired eyes, ringed with black. His face was pale and drawn, which meant his eyes stood out even more, as well as the slash across his lips, as well as the one which cut across his right cheekbone, which were a glaring red. She noticed for the first time something that, if she had noticed it before, might have prevented this entire mess. The Chuunin was as thin as a rail, his skin practically translucent. She kicked herself for not seeing it before, and giving him longer rest periods, he obviously wasn't up to the demanding missions she had been giving him, and she seriously doubted that he had been eating right. He was also shaking, and Tsunade had to wonder how long it had been since he had slept.

Almost disgusted by the pity she felt for him, he had killed three shinobi after all, Tsunade walked over to the boy, dragging a spare chair away from the wall for him to use. "Sit." She commanded, watching as he hesitated, then dropped onto it like a sack of flour, still trembling. Leaning against her desk, and fighting not to just let her eyes fall closed so that she could sleep, the Godaime tilted her head to the side, trying to decide what to say to the Chuunin.

"I didn't kill her Hokage-sama." Shino said quietly, his eyes boring into hers. Tsunade jerked her head up straight, her own eyes slightly wider than normal as she waited for him to continue, all thoughts of what she had been going to say gone. "I don't know what they told you, but I didn't- I would never…" He trailed off, tears in his dark eyes. "I-I know my traps caught two of the hunter-nins, I wasn't thinking when I laid them. I know this doesn't mean anything, but, I-I'm sorry."

"They told me that they found Yuuhi Kurenai just off the path you took, dead, covered in blood, and her lungs filled with your bugs." Tsunade said sharply. "I don't see how it could be anyone else, Aburame. Unless you make that clear for me, it's going to be on your record. But why does it really matter? You know there is only one choice for me, and thus for you. One less murder isn't going to make any difference."

Shino looked down, his black hair, which had once been short and neatly maintained slightly singed and several inches longer. Apparently he hadn't only been neglecting his food, but everything else too. "I just don't want him to think I killed her Hokage-sama. I don't want him to have to live with the fact that he loved someone who could do that."

Tsunade's face softened and she let her arm fall to her side. She had almost forgotten that this was what this entire mess was all about. It was hard to get angry at the missing-nin when he went and said something like that, and he looked just so pathetic, sitting there on the chair she had given him. "So I take it you know what your punishment is going to be, right?" She paused, wanting to explain to him, but not sure if that was such a good idea. "Shino… If I had the choice I'd pardon you, but I can't. The village knows what you did, and even if you didn't kill Kurenai, you still killed the two hunter-nins. They want justice Shino, and I have to give it to them, do you understand?" Mentally, she hit herself; real smooth Tsunade, asking him if he understood why he had to die.

When he nodded, she wished she could just let him go, find some explanation for the villagers if that was what they demanded, but she knew it was impossible, that it could never work that way. That was why there was one punishment for missing-nins, not because what they had done was so horrendous, but because the village would never take them back once they were gone. In a way, it was the ultimate crime, to betray your home, where you had grown up, and so it was punished with the ultimate penalty, death.

a/n: Ahh! I'm so sorry it took so long! I was all ready to have this up on Friday, and then, I realized how important this chapter was! It is quite literally The Branch Point, and I spent a looong time stressing about what way it was going to go… I am amused that The Branch Point revolves around Kakashi though … Anyway, sorry again, and hopefully I'll have chapter 15 up sooner rather than later (maybe tomorrow or the day after? shrugs you never know). Heh, you're probably wondering what the hell is going on though, and I can't blame you. But it should eventually make sense, hopefully. And just to clear a few things up:

This pretty much takes place right at the beginning of Part Two, i.e. chapter 248+ (of the manga, as we haven't quite gotten there in the anime yet…).

The Yondaime is the same age as when he died, so he's about Kakashi's age, near as I can figure it, considered we still don't know his name or age… sigh

Chapters 11 and 12 both took place on May 6th, Chapter 13 took place on May 8th, and Chapter 14 (this one) took place on May 9th.

Just to keep you posted, this is a shonen-ai story. Well, if you got this far without noticing, I'm more than a little worried, and you should be too. I'm not going to tell you the pairings though, because that would be no fun, ne? Anyway, please review!

AvaStar: Glad you liked it! And, as you know, I was going to have two up, but no-o, I had to freak out about that whole two directions thing. –sigh-

Hujin: Yes, "plans" is a frightening word, isn't it? –grins- you'll just have to wait and see, it really isn't that far off…

E. Vanity: Yuck, I'm not too fond of Bio… Chemistry and Physics (YAY PHYSICS) are more my thing! Sorry again that it's so late…

Smoking Panda: HE HAD LINES IN THIS ONE… Okay. Line. But still! I wrote more, as you may have noticed, but it took a very long time… -sigh-

Bunch-o-Nuts: I take it this isn't what you meant by soon, is it? Aww thank you!

Lady Samurai: Maybe, maybe not. –grins- I'm not telling… Thanks though!

Angstluver: You'd think it would be so simple, wouldn't you? Thanks! I'm glad you like it! Uh… Here's something about Naruto. Kinda. Okay, not really. –hangs head- I'll get to it, I swear!