AN: Thanks very much to ShounenSuki (again) for providing Reiboshi's Kekkai Genkai (Bloodline Limit).
11- All in a Day's Work
"I do not think the enemy were trying to kill us," said Kakashi. Isamu looked confused, but Gai agreed.
"Many of the ninja we have seen have used a few Jounin level techniques, but they fight in the open, using little or no strategy. If they are trying to defeat us, they are extremely poorly organised."
"But if they are not, and they are sending these attacks in order to mislead us, then it makes a lot more sense," finished Genma, thinking as they spoke about the events of the day. Sharino was sitting next to him and she frowned, not understanding what they were saying.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Genma continued; "The attacks came when and where we were expecting them, except that the team that should have been the biggest target…"
"My team…" said Reiboshi. Genma nodded, carrying on.
"…Was left untouched: Exactly. Now that we know about the spy technique, we know how they knew where we all were, but we also know they had a spy among Reiboshi's team, so they must have been avoiding attacking them for a reason. What could that reason be?" They were silent for a moment, the six ninja all deep in thought.
"Sharino, you said they seemed to be looking for something," Kakashi said, looking at Sharino and then at Isamu. Sharino frowned.
"Yes, but we don't have any idea what it could be," she replied.
"It would have to be something that was secret, even to the ninja in the village. Otherwise, the Smoke ninja among the Missing-Nin would know where it was," said Kakashi.
"And it would have to be something very powerful, otherwise the trouble they have gone to would be excessive," Genma added. They were silent again, this time for longer.
"I know what it is," said Reiboshi finally. Sharino looked at him, an eyebrow raised, confused.
"What?" she asked.
"Me," he said. Sharino's eyes widened in recognition. She gasped, as did her father.
"The Kagirinai Rensetsu!" whispered Sharino. The Endless Connection. Kakashi looked from Isamu to Sharino to Reiboshi, waiting for an explanation. Reiboshi explained in a solemn tone.
"It is my Kekkai Genkai, a Bloodline Limit in the Yumeda clan that allows me to telepathically communicate with those of my bloodline, or those who are close to me. It also allows me to teleport to the side of any of my bloodline, and call them to mine when I need them."
"It is possible that Jirou knew of the bloodline, but did not know what clan here possessed it. It is not widely known. Perhaps he told the leader of the group, who then decided to search for it," Sharino said. Kakashi nodded.
"If they thought that one of the Smoke ninja possessed the Kekkai Genkai but did not know which one, then they would want to leave them alone. Otherwise, they may accidentally kill the one they wanted, or have to expend a lot of energy capturing them all," Kakashi said thoughtfully.
"So they attacked us, to make us think that the attacks were some random vendetta on the Smoke village, and they tried to capture Sharino to find out who possessed the Kekkai Genkai," Gai finished. Once more, silence fell upon them as they considered this. With the secrets of a Kekkai Genkai as powerful as the Kagirinai Rensetsu, the ninja would be able to coordinate attacks even more silently, and travel great distances in a flash. It could spell the downfall of many of their targets. They had to make sure it remained a secret.
"So what will we do tomorrow?" asked Genma. Sharino glanced across the room at Reiboshi. She looked very worried, but he did not appear particularly concerned.
"There cannot be more than thirty of them left…" started Gai.
"Closer to twenty if you count those that Nekoya and the Sand Nin killed…" added Sharino.
"Sand Nin?" Isamu said, shocked. Sharino's face flushed red as she realised that she had told Reiboshi and the Konoha Jounin about Temari's appearance, but she had not mentioned it to her father. He was already angry about Isako, but now he looked absolutely furious with her.
"Three, including Temari, from the Sand village came, hunting one of the Missing-Nin originally from Sunagakure," she said, keeping her eyes on the floor and avoiding making eye contact with her father.
"Temari!" Isamu said, his voice a little bit louder and his eyes a little wider.
"Nevertheless," Kakashi said, keeping his eye on father and daughter, wondering who Temari was and why this upset Isamu so much. "They evidently helped us, somewhat. Tomorrow we must try a different strategy. Today's plan obviously only served to have them test our ability." Sharino nodded, grateful to Kakashi for interrupting her father.
"We need to attack them, this time. Otherwise this pattern could last for days," said Genma. Kakashi nodded. It was definitely time to counter-attack if the village's people, and its Kekkai Genkai, were to be protected.
---
Naruto was definitely back to his usual self. Whatever Sharino had done had worked. If possible, he seemed bouncier than ever. All the fears he'd felt, and his odd feelings of déjà vu had come from the spying jutsu. The Kyuubi, which provided Naruto with his incredible healing abilities, was also sensitive to the jutsu, able to realise that something was not right. Kakashi even wondered if Naruto had been able to sense the spy's essence. That would explain why the Flame country had seemed so familiar to him.
When Kakashi found him, Naruto was eating with Sakura and Sasuke. The young Uchiha was silent as usual. He had barely formed a complete sentence that day. Sakura and Naruto, though, seemed to be in better spirits.
Kakashi came to meet them straight from his meeting with the other Jounin. He was debating whether or not to involve them in the final battle. They had done very well so far, but tomorrow would be different. They would be fighting against more opponents at once than they had as yet and they would be fighting against many who were much stronger than them.
"Kakashi-Sensei!" Sakura said, seeing him standing in the doorway watching them eat. "Have you eaten?" she said, gesturing to the still full plates in front of them. He waved a hand expansively.
"I'm fine," he said, moving over to sit next to them. "Are you guys all right?" he asked. Sasuke nodded, Naruto grinned, and Sakura gave him a weak smile.
"Kakashi-Sensei, will we be fighting again tomorrow?" Naruto asked enthusiastically. He seemed as bright as ever. Sakura looked a little worried by the question. Kakashi noticed that she seemed tired. So did Sasuke, although Naruto with his seemingly infinite stamina looked as energetic as ever.
"That's what I came to talk to you guys about," he said. They looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "I don't want you guys to come out with us. I want you to stay here…" he said. Naruto's face fell, and then he frowned in anger, shouting at his Sensei.
"But surely the Smoke will need all the great ninjas they can get to help in this! I can help!" Sasuke gave a little grunt of derision.
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura said, angrily. Kakashi looked compassionately at Naruto.
"I don't want you guys involved in this. Tomorrow we are taking the fight to the enemy. I don't know how many ninja there will be, or what level they will be. I just know that it is dangerous, and I may not be able to protect you if you get into trouble."
"I won't need protecting! I will surpass them all! I'm not afraid!" shouted Naruto. Sakura smacked him around the back of the head.
"I said shut up, idiot. Kakashi-Sensei is trying to stop us from getting killed!" she said. Naruto fell back into his seat, nursing the lump that Sakura's punch brought out.
"Naruto is right," said Sasuke more quietly. Sakura looked at him in blank disbelief. He didn't return her look, instead staring straight ahead, looking at nothing in particular, his head rested on his folded hands.
"Huh?" she said, as if Naruto being right was a completely alien concept to her. Sasuke turned his head to look at Kakashi.
"The Smoke are Konoha's allies. We are here to help them. We cannot do that in the village when the enemies are outside. We should fight," he said. Sakura looked at him and smiled with admiration.
"You're so brave, Sasuke-kun!" she said. Kakashi looked at his team. He remembered how they had fought against Zabuza and Haku and he smiled under his mask.
"If you are determined to fight, then you will," he said. "But there will not be any chance to turn back once we are in the forest." Naruto nodded.
"When I put this forehead protector on, I become a ninja of Konoha," he said, gesturing to the symbol on his forehead. "I will not run away!" he said. Kakashi nodded.
"So be it. We leave at first light."
---
Sharino was once again in her favourite spot above the village. It was where she always came to think, to be alone. She sat, thinking for the first time in a long while about Temari. The last time she had seen her old friend was over a year ago when she returned to Sunagakure with her father when he was engaged in some peace talks with the Kazekage.
Sharino had been more eager than anyone for the talks to succeed. She knew that she would find fighting the Sand almost impossible. A small part of her still saw the Sand as her home, even though she had long since found her place among the ninja of the Smoke.
There were no friends like Temari among Sharino's comrades in the Smoke, though. All those her own age looked up to her because she was stronger than they were. Those who were older than her were either jealous of her abilities, or still viewed her as a child, still young, still inexperienced. The closest friend she had was Nekoya, and even they were somewhat separated, because Kenshin had taught both of them when they were Genin, and yet she was not much older than Nekoya was.
Between the two villages as she was, Sharino often felt trapped. She sometimes wished she could return to her youth in the Sand, training with Temari, learning how to be a ninja of the country of Wind. Maybe the Kazekage was not her real father, but he had brought her up in his household, trained her like she was one of them. Umatatsu Isamu had done nothing but forgotten her for five years of her life and taught her how to summon the horses. It was Kenshin and Reiboshi that had trained her to be a ninja of the Smoke, teaching her the Enton and Doton jutsu of her new home village.
Sighing, Sharino stood to return to her house. When she turned, she saw Genma standing in front of her and started. She had not heard him approaching.
"I'm sorry, I did not mean to alarm you," he said. She instantly changed her expression to a frown.
"It's my fault. I was not alert enough," she said. Genma approached her, a kind expression his face. She noticed with amusement that he had found a replacement toothpick, after losing his in battle. She wondered if he slept with it in his mouth, still chewing.
"You put too much pressure on yourself," he said. "No one can be alert all the time." She looked at him carefully.
"In our line of work inattentiveness can cost you your life," she replied.
There was a long moment of silence as the two looked at each other, considering. Genma moved to her side and looked out, as she had so many times, over the village and past the steam into the woods beyond. A crescent moon stood proud in the sky above the village. It was beautiful.
"I can see why you like this spot so much," he said. She smiled.
"Why are you here, Genma-san?" she asked. Genma smiled at her.
"I went for a walk and found myself here," he replied.
"You know what I mean. Back in Konoha, in the Hokage's office, you said you owed my clan a debt. What debt?" Genma sighed staring once more at the moon and the stars that surrounded it. There were few clouds that night, and those that there were, were lit up in interesting shades of blue and grey by the light of the moon. He took a long moment before he answered.
"Nearly 13 years ago, your father and uncle helped Konoha fight the nine-tailed demon fox, along with several other ninjas from the Smoke village." he explained. "I believe that it was also when Kakashi met your father for the first time. I, too, was there that night. I was a Chuunin at the time, not very experienced at such battles. I happened to be in the squad that was working with the Smoke ninja. The fox was very powerful, as I'm sure you know. We were just trying to keep it away from the village long enough so that the Yondaime Hokage could come and defeat it." He paused, his eyes flickering as if he could still see the battle in his mind.
"The Kyuubi was nearby. One of its tails came sweeping towards my team. I was directly in its path, unable to jump out of its way… Your uncle jumped in front of me, taking the full force of the tail. He died to save my life. From that day I swore that if there was ever a way I could repay that debt to the Umatatsu clan and the Smoke village, I would take it." Sharino looked at the Special Jounin, examining his face. Then their eyes met and she smiled.
"Thank you, Genma-san. This will not be forgotten." He smiled in reply, nodding acknowledgement. Then the two turned to go back to the village. The next day would be a trying one, and even Jounin needed to rest sometimes.