CHAPTER 13
"…MISSION COMPLETE…"
"I see."
Several days after the horrific events that ended their mission to Earth Country, Kintarou and Kaori stood somberly before the Hokage. The imposing figure stood silently facing out the window; her back turned towards the pair of Chuunin in her office. Having arrived less than an hour earlier, the two of them were exhausted beyond belief. It was taking what little energy and stamina they had left to avoid collapsing to the floor on the spot. But both put their weariness aside the moment the question they'd been dreading came up. Where was Takeo? After neither one said a word, Tsunade's frightening glare persuaded Kintarou to tell the story as he knew it. He filled Tsunade in on everything: the Sound ninjas involvement and trap; Ren running off and Takeo following him; seeing the plateau collapse; finding Takeo's bow; taking the forehead protector from his trapped body; all of it. When he had finished, both he and Kaori briefly glanced at one another, sharing a sad smile. Tsunade had then simply rose from her chair and turned to gaze out the windows lining the wall behind her desk, muttering her words of understanding.
"I expect that both of you are in need of some rest and medical attention," Tsunade sighed as she turned back around to face them. "You will report to the hospital immediately. Assuming you are well enough to go home, I expect you both back here tomorrow morning to turn in a full report."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," both Chuunin replied.
"As far as your mission is concerned, I assume that both of you understand how I am forced to interpret the results of this field examination for your ANBU applications."
Neither Kintarou nor Kaori made a move to answer.
"You left the gates as a team of three, but returned home a team of two. Generally, that's not what we would call a success. However, I asked you before you left my office, Kintarou, if you could sacrifice a teammate for the sake of the mission."
Kintarou looked up at the woman's comforting eyes.
"No one would expect you to allow that to happen easily," Tsunade assured him. "Based on what you've told me so far, the three of you acted appropriately and dutifully, demonstrating character worthy of Konoha shinobi. Atsukami Ren is safe and in Konoha, as is the girl you brought with him. The fact that Takeo was lost is extremely saddening, but you two managed to remain loyal to your duty as shinobi, displaying maturity necessary for our line of work. As disappointing as the outcome may be, you succeeded in the mission assigned to you."
Again, the two tired Chuunin nodded in response.
"I realize this is difficult to accept," Tsunade frowned. "But this is the way of the life we lead. I would guess by your reactions that this is the first time either of you have lost a teammate on a mission."
"Y-Yes," Kintarou replied.
"Mm," Kaori nodded.
"I know how painful it is, believe me," Tsunade said understandingly.
The three were silent for several seconds before a dark-haired woman entered the room.
"Tsunade-sama."
"What is it, Shizune?"
"Ren and the young woman, Jana, have both been treated and are currently alert and stable."
"That's good news," Tsunade smiled briefly.
"Yes," Shizune said quickly. "Both of them are under observation in a private room. I have assigned a squad of ANBU to keep watch until you arrive."
"Very good. Thank you, Shizune."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama."
As the young woman turned to leave, Tsunade looked back towards Kintarou and Kaori.
"You are free to go, too," she said. "Takeo's parents are on their way. And I need to speak with Ren and the girl before they are able to rest, to try and understand what exactly happened out there."
"Hokage-sama," Kintarou hesitantly stopped her. "Are you…excuse me, wouldn't it be a good idea to retrieve Noppo's, er, Takeo's…body? I realize that he doesn't, or didn't have an advanced bloodline like the Hyuuga clan, but it would still be wise to, uh…bring it back for his family's sake."
The blonde Hokage paused to ponder his comments. "I will look into assigning a team to do so tomorrow. Kintarou, since you found the body, I would need you to detail where exactly you found him."
"I would like to volunteer for the team," Kintarou immediately responded. "I remember exactly where he was, I assure you."
"Yes, I know seeing your teammate's lifeless face is not easy to forget…" Tsunade said, her eyes looking down.
"I couldn't see his head or face the way his body was positioned," Kintarou admitted. "Which I am somewhat happy about..."
"Then how did you retrieve his forehead protector?" Tsunade started to question, before answering herself. "Ah, of course, he wore his around the strap for his quiver…"
Tsunade looked away for a moment, her mind obviously elsewhere.
"I want to go, too," Kaori volunteered.
Tsunade shook her head, losing her train of thought. "I'm afraid you two will be quite busy. You will need to report to the ANBU office directly after filing your reports with me tomorrow morning. All of the necessary paperwork needs to be filled out before you can be assigned to your division and a squad."
Kintarou and Kaori looked unexpectedly at one another before staring back at Tsunade.
"It may feel somewhat hollow considering the circumstances, but you completed the mission and thus passed your entrance examination," Tsunade said slowly as she walked out of her office. "Welcome to ANBU."
Tsunade exited the room quickly, heading over to the hospital. Kintarou and Kaori, both stunned at her last few words, remained standing inside her office. Both of them were sharing the same thoughts, and the same sense of guilt. It took several minutes for them to snap out of their self-induced daze and finally leave the Hokage tower. Stepping foot outside, the pair slowly started off towards the hospital. The crisp evening air chilled their skin and did little to dissuade their worn and emotionally drained bodies from shaking. And if their own sense of sadness and remorse weren't enough, the sight of the two figures approaching made those feelings escalate even higher.
"G-Good evening…Keigo-sama…Hakumi-san," Kintarou respectfully bowed.
Neither of Takeo's parents responded, instead continuing to approach until they within arm's reach of their son's teammates. As soon as they stopped, Hakumi reached both of her trembling arms out and wrapped them tightly around Kaori and Kintarou, resting her sobbing head between them. Kintarou frowned as he looked away, his apologetic eyes meeting Keigo's unusually distant ones. Kaori returned Hakumi's embrace, letting her own tears fall on the woman's shoulder. The four of them remained that way for a while, separating only after Keigo and Hakumi reluctantly entered the Hokage's tower. Kintarou placed a hand on Kaori's back, guiding her in step beside him as they headed away from the grief and mourning that would fill Tsunade's office again. They'd had their fill for the day.
(A Week Later)-----------------------------------------------------------------------(A Week Later)
"And you're sure about this?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama," the Jounin nodded. "We looked all over the remains at the bottom of the canyon. We found several bodies after clearing away most of the debris, but none match Zuboshi Takeo's description. We found what appears to be half of a broken bow near the bottom of the pile, but--"
"None of the bodies had a quiver around their back?"
"A dead shinobi from the Hidden Stone was found with what looked like the remains of one," he replied. "The strap was broken, though, so it's possible it merely fell next to him."
"I see…" Tsunade nodded, her nose wrinkled up in thought.
"Should we continue the search, Hokage-sama?"
"No. If you were unsuccessful in finding it the first time, there's little chance of finding it a second. And from what I've learned regarding the situation surrounding his death, they're may not be much of a body left…"
"Hokage-sama?"
"It's nothing," Tsunade quickly responded as she stood. "That will be all."
Nodding, the Jounin turned and left hurriedly through the office doors. Tsunade exasperatingly sat back in her chair, dropping her head on her intertwined fingers as she rested her elbows on the desk.
"Akatsuki…" she muttered scornfully, before closing her eyes in contemplation.
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A/N: I know I usually drop these at the beginning, but I actually have a lot to post, so I figured it would be easier after the chapter. First, the chapter's fairly short - 1) after the past few, which had a lot of plot, character stuff, and action/battles, I thought a shorter one might be a nice break (both to write and to read); 2) if you've read and remember the summary, you can probably guess that the story will skip ahead a period of time (2 years) - at the moment, I'm undecided as to whether I should write a chapter or two to "fill" some of the gap, or skip ahead like I originally planned - any comments/suggestions would be welcome; 3) someone had asked me about the ages of the three main characters (I never explicitely gave numbers) - since the story will be jumping ahead a bit, I thought now would be a good time to post brief character profiles and other info as the three main characters are NOW, before the jump ahead:
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Character Profiles
Name: Zuboshi Takeo
Age: 17
Sex: Male
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Rank: Chuunin
Specialty: Archery
Techniques:
- Katsugan (Keen Sight)
- Kemuriran (Smoke Sight)
- Kumoya (Cloud Arrow)
- Youkaiya (Ghost Arrow)
- Tokken (Tackle Charge)
- Hishoutaka Kyuukouka (Soaring Falcon Dive)
- Kamereon Kawa no Jutsu (Chameleon Skin Technique)
- Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)
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Name: Kazumo Kintarou
Age: 18
Sex: Male
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 260 lbs.
Rank: Chuunin
Specialty: Taijutsu
Techniques:
- Kuma Tsume no Jutsu (Bear Claw Technique)
- Hibiware Tekken (Fissure Fist)
- Ninpou, Doubutsu Tootemu (Ninja Art, Animal Totem)
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Name: Hirashi Kaori
Age: 16
Sex: Female
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 127 lbs.
Rank: Chuunin
Specialty: Medical Specialist/Genjutsu
Techniques:
- Doton: Nemuri Suna no Jutsu (Earth Element: Sleep Sand Technique)
- Hana Buyou no Jutsu (Flower Dance Technique)
- Sabaku Miraaju (Desert Mirage)
- Kusa Bunshin no Jutsu (Grass Clone Technique)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I wrote those out before I started the fic (minus the techniques I had to make) - if anything in the story disagrees with that, let me know...Anyway, enjoy...Read & Review...