Scarlet Justice - ep. 59
"In The Books"
[Sasuke Recovery Mission: Epilogue 2]

Breakfast is a quiet affair as I get back. We all sit and eat in a circle together. I give Sakura her food and she sits off to the side, in my peripheral vision just in case anything happens. Nothing does, aside from her lethargic eating.

"I'm sorry for earlier," Hina says quietly.

"It's alright. You were upset, and you had every right to be. This isn't a normal situation," I reply to her.

"I know, I just...feel bad about it, even if I was justified. I wish I was like you, Lili. It's...hard expressing these kinds of emotions."

"Don't worry about that. Please remember that I love you as you are. You are strong, and will grow stronger in time, Hina."

"Yes. Thank you..."

I nod and we all go back to eating. Once we're done, I start organizing my documents again and give the team a short while to rest. Shino moves out to gather water and returns a short while later with the small bucket he procured from town yesterday. Everyone gathers a cool drink before the rest is used for Sasuke's first aid. Hina checks over him while Sakura quietly watches.

"We can start from the bottom," I say to myself. "The last set of conflicts, which is conveniently...these. Shino, bring Lee over to me. I want to start with his interview."

"Understood, Boss."

"Thank you." I help him set Lee in a sitting position with his back against a tree. I sit cross-legged in front of him, with a notepad in my lap opened and ready to go. "Good afternoon, Lee. How are you feeling?"

"I feel quite well, Captain. Thank you for asking."

"Good. I'm going to be taking care of the reports from here. This mission has had a lot of twists and turns, and unique data points that need to be recorded for future events. Perhaps not similar to this, but it will be useful all the same. Give me your best recollection of the battle you had with Kimimaro Kaguya yesterday. Any details you feel are important, speak them out loud. Don't worry about making me do work, this is what I'm here for as your leader. Understood?"

"Understood, ma'am," he says as he salutes with his free hand.

"Good. The engagement time...after final orders were given...alright. The encounter itself," I say as I take notes.

Lee started off by catching up to Kimimaro and Sakura. He tried to convince Sakura to come back, but Kimimaro was giving out orders and had a hold over the girl that made her unwilling to take any bold or derivative actions, lest she be injured or maybe even killed. The fight was entirely one on one, Kimimaro's sense of honour kicking in. Lee removed his weights, which were stuffed under those hideous leg warmers - an interesting tip that I'll look into later - and then was forced to open the Inner Gates as Kimimaro escalated. The initial curse state first, then the second stage which eventually forced Lee into using the second and third gates, to no avail.

"It was then, at my lowest point, that the villain tempted me," he says. "Captain, I am ashamed to admit that I did give thought to his proposal. I was already severely weakened by the Gates, and he offered to send Sakura back with me if I would only let him escape across the border with Sasuke."

"You feared death."

"Yes."

"Do you remember the fight I had with Sakura?"

"I do. Kakashi-sensei intervened at the last moment...there was something between yourself and Sasuke, wasn't there?"

"Yes, there was. There is, even now. Lee, I understand what you were going through. The fear of death...that loathing, that cold feeling inside of your heart. It makes you think, and say, and do things that you normally wouldn't consider. You're not some invincible warrior," I tell him. "There is nothing wrong or shameful about being scared. What's important is what you chose to do next. Tell me, in your own words."

Lee's answer was to fight, and to overcome the fear that was growing inside of him. For Sakura, and for the sake of his nindo. It was the surge that I felt just before reaching him, the Fifth Gate opening and giving him incredible strength at great cost. Opening five out of the eight Inner Gates before being old enough to drink, or even grow chest hair...he's definitely some kind of genius, this one. And a very strong shinobi, even if I find him a ridiculous sight at times. He fought and went past his limits for all of us.

"Reverse Lotus," I repeat.

"Yes! The ultimate high speed taijutsu meant to crush any opponent in a single sequence! It has to be so, because of the extreme stress it puts on the body."

"I see. Very interesting," I say as I take more notes. Ideas are already pouring in for my own techniques, but I keep my focus to the reports for now. Experimentation can be done in a while, once my arm properly heals. I also have to investigate the heavenly power I used in the valley.

"Unfortunately, it was not enough against the villain called Kimimaro."

"He was an annoying bastard to the end. Yammering on about his pedophile master and just refusing to die after getting torn apart over and over. It's not your fault," I say with a wave of my hand. "You did very well considering you only had your taijutsu to rely on. So...I did witness the end parts of the Reverse Lotus, and then personally stepped in...which is the end of your involvement. No observations afterwards?"

"Nothing, ma'am."

"Good. That should be it, then. Thank you, Lee. You did very well, I have to remind you of that again. Your effort helped this mission go from a bother to a resounding success. Don't forget that."

"Yes! Thank you, Captain."

"Also..." I reach to one side and hand him a small scroll. "This should be convenient to read in this form. I thought about using a notebook, but it's difficult to read with only one arm in play at all times. The scroll contains observations and breakdowns of the fight that I had with Kimimaro while you were asleep. The diagrams were done quickly and aren't extensively detailed, I do more of my talking in the text itself. It was just a matter of adding more visuals as I thought they would be appreciated. The back half has a section on my fight with Kidomaru, a long range ninjutsu user. And then there are the smaller details like distances and measurements, theories on tool use, and other such things."

"Mm...hm!" Lee unfolds the scroll a bit and glances at it, looking impressed as his head moves up and down.

"I was thinking about going over battle details with everyone and looking into the right and wrong steps they took, but...that's a little much considering there were so many unknowns, and this was a mission that normally would be well outside the scope of chuunin and genin fighters. It wouldn't be worth drilling everyone on that sort of thing, not right now. And putting all of that aside, I don't want to give anyone grief by forcing them to relive those fights any more than they have to. Times have been stressful enough."

"Hmm...I understand now what Guy-sensei was speaking of the other day."

I look up from my writing briefly. "What do you mean?"

"The qualities of leadership you possess. Guy-sensei called you a 'tiny adult', in a positive manner, of course. He was very impressed with your combat skill and knowledge, and also your ability to organize many things at once. It is a rare skill coveted by military leaders in all eras."

"Mm. Tiny adult, huh...he might not be wrong about that. I've grown up very quickly, for many reasons. Some worse than others. Don't go growing up too quickly yourself, Lee. It's not all bad being an adult, but childhood is something you should enjoy as much as you can."

"Yes, understood."

"Good. Time for you to rest properly. Come, tell me where you want to go," I say as I stand up.

"Ah, is it really okay?"

"Of course it is." I help him up and onto his good leg.

"Very well. There is a small stream nearby, with a flat rock that makes a very good seat. I wish to spend some time meditating there."

"Let's go, then." I carry him through the trees and towards the small clearing he mentioned. There is indeed a flat rock, with sunlight streaming onto it through the leaf cover above. It already has an occupant, which I should have expected considering who it is.

"Useful, I suppose. The slacker can watch over you while I'm gone," I say.

"I thought we were allowed some quiet time," Shikamaru mumbles.

"You are. I'm just bullying you because you deserve it."

He sighs.

"Lee wants to meditate. That's fine, isn't it?"

"Yeah, go nuts. There's enough room for the whole gang. You should take some time off yourself, Chief."

"Maybe later. I have work to do. As long as you stay off that leg, I'm satisfied. I'll send for you in a bit."

"Got it. See you soon."

I head back and see that Hina is done with Sasuke. She gives instructions to Sakura as I settle back into my spot and open my notebook to a new page.

"Shino, it's time. Are you ready?"

"Ready, Boss." He quickly appears in front of me and sits down.

"Feeling okay today?"

"Fine. I've managed to recover a notable amount of my insects, but not enough to stand by at full power just yet. Sorry, Boss."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Shino. Take it easy, please. The worst is over, and your job is to recover enough that we can make it safely home. If you do that, you will make me happy. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Good. Let's start with...orders given...and the event itself starts there. When you're ready, Shino."

Shino details his fight as expected, and I can imagine myself in his position. No time wasted - he immediately tested that Tayuya's taijutsu and she retreated after a single exchange as expected. There were three massive, strange sorts of summons that she controlled with her flute. As soon as she discovered that genjutsu didn't work, she shifted into an all out attack with her three summoned creatures.

"Of course, this was all within calculations," Shino says as he adjusts his glasses.

"You used the female bug as bait, planted on her during your brief exchange. Following that, you set up your next few moves while she tried to figure out some way to draw you out."

"Yes."

Tayuya had no defense against the swarms of insects that came for her, and things only got worse as her flute was jammed with bugs without her knowledge. It was her only effective weapon; whether it was carelessness or arrogance didn't matter, since she was out of options. She removed her summons from the field and shifted to her Level 2 state, intending to reset everything and overpower Shino from in close. Shino responded by piling on the pressure and making it hard for her to move.

"Stubborn girl, wasn't she."

"Indeed. Shikamaru and Hinata arrived just then, with the latter landing a surprise attack that greatly injured my opponent and disabled her. Even then, Tayuya continued to fight against the three of us. It was as if she felt she had no choice, that she couldn't simply retreat and join one of her teammates."

"You would think so..." I recall how Sakura was taking care not to get in the way of Kimimaro, and Lee's descriptions of Sakura's actions before his fight. "It's possible that she didn't have any other choice."

"What makes you think that?"

"Kimimaro declared himself the leader of the Sound Five, and clearly wasn't around before. I assume he was their leader at some point before falling ill. There might have been a genuine fear that he would kill her if she returned without having defeated at least one of you."

"Shikamaru held her in place as I drained her chakra further, and Hinata delivered the final blow with the Gentle Fist. It worked out as you thought it would, Boss."

"I did organize the fights in a certain way, but not every good plan works out, even if you wish for it to be so. Mm. At least things went well this time." I write a few more notes down. "And the fight with Sasuke, I would like details of that as well. Tell me the things you saw from your vantage point."

It ends up being as Shikamaru said yesterday. Sakura coordinated with Sasuke to create explosive attacks that were just barely rebuffed by a combination of Hinata's ranged attacks and Shino's insects. The repeated attacks took a toll on both of them, especially after Shikamaru injured his ankle and was unable to move efficiently afterwards.

"That should be enough. Thank you for your time, Shino. You did very well."

"Thanks, Boss. Are you going to be okay?"

I shrug. "There have been worse days, to be sure. Physical pain is a small price to pay. But I appreciate your concern, as always. I have one good arm and both legs are working perfectly. That's more than enough for any fool who dares to cross me."

"Heh. I suppose it was a bit silly to worry about you, then."

"Perhaps," I say with a smile. "Rest well, Shino. We should be leaving tomorrow, and it's a rare chance to relax that you've more than earned. Thank you for your faith in me."

"No problem. I'll see you later, Boss."

"Send in that slacker for me, will you?"

"On it."

I wait a few minutes and make some more notes before turning to a fresh page. Shikamaru uses a sturdy branch to get around and keep off his bad leg. He settles down and lies on his back, hands behind his head.

"It's impressive how you always manage to look fantastically lazy," I comment.

"The clouds are nice from here, too."

"I'm sure they are, yes. I hope you've recharged enough to give a proper report. It's likely that I'll hurt you otherwise. Let's see...from here...and then the event starts up. Okay, you went through the forest and encountered your target. Or targets."

"Yep."

"Time for you to use that brain and recall what happened. I need details, too. Don't skimp on anything, slacker."

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru started off by analyzing the attacks of his opponent, Sakon. Once options were frustrated, Sakon revealed his secret. He was actually two people at once, sharing a body with his brother called Ukon. They separated and tried to trap Shikamaru repeatedly, only to be driven back each time. Shikamaru made use of the forest cover well and consistently agitated the brothers, throwing them off their game. He wasn't strong enough on his own to fight two physically superior opponents, but stalling was easy enough.

"Hinata arrived at about eighty percent power or so. Rough guess. We estimated that Shino wouldn't be done at the time, so I worked out something with my new backup. Didn't take long to seal their opening points with coordinated attacks."

Directing Hina to move in time with his weapons and jutsu, the two enemies were overwhelmed from the direct assault. Hina took out one, only to have the other merge with his fallen brother somehow. They seemed to have that ability which allowed them to heal wounds and conserve stamina. But reducing themselves to one target didn't help them in the end. Shikamaru landed his newest technique, called Shadow Neck Binding. It hasn't been perfected yet, but with Hina's help landing it was easy enough, and the brothers met their end while sharing the same body. Once they were done, they assisted Shino. Shikamaru goes over the details from his end this time. From there, they met up with me and got their orders to chase after Sasuke.

"It was sort of a bad move. I tried to dodge one of those log traps Sakura set and a fireball from Sasuke at the same time. I think it was the Phoenix Flower in that instance." He shrugs. "But either way, the terrain up there wasn't too great. Ground came loose suddenly and I screwed up my ankle coming down hard at a terrible angle. After that, I was kind of sunk. I'm not as fast as you or Hinata, but I still need mobility to position myself for my jutsu."

"Well, you survived. And you did a good job the entire way through. That's why I left so much in your hands, you know."

"I figured as much. I hope you don't pile too much on in the future as a result of this. That would really suck, even if I'm gonna end up doing it in the end anyways because you asked."

"You don't have to worry about that. You're a slacker and a pain in the ass, but I wouldn't have you any other way, Shikamaru."

"Heh. You sure you mean that?"

"I'm sure," I say sincerely. "You're going to be a wonderful man one day."

"Oi, what's with that all of a sudden?" he says as he sits up.

"It's not a joke. I mean it this time, so take the damn compliment. Alright?"

He pauses a while before nodding. "Yeah. I really will. Thanks for that, Lili."

"You're welcome. And thank you for the detailed recollection of events. It's going to be helpful for my studies and the report that will be sent to the Hokage."

"Yeah...speaking of him, I'm not sure what's going to happen when we get back. Gonna try to talk to my old man and Asuma to glean some insight, but...it's gonna get wacky, trust me. This whole mission is outside of everyone's strike zone," Shikamaru says.

"I'll keep myself primed. Thank you for that. Now, you can go back to watching your clouds as you wanted to. Some help up?"

"I'm good." He jumps to his good leg and leans on his makeshift cane. "See you at dinner, Chief."

"Later." I finish up my notes as he leaves. Hina takes her place next to me. "I didn't even have to call for you. I'm very spoiled, it seems."

"You just might be. How are things going?" she asks.

"Very well. The interviews have been full of detail, all of you have been quite attentive when it comes to certain things. I'm going to organize these notes into a proper scroll later, and then that will be handed off once we get to the village. Might be best to put it straight into the Hokage's hands. Hm. Shikamaru was mentioning politics just now. I wonder how much of a mess this will be."

"Hopefully we all get through it."

"Yes. The mission isn't over yet, unfortunately. I'll likely have to talk to Sakura later, in order to extract certain details..."

"You might be able to leave it to Intelligence," Hina points out.

"That much is true. We'll see how I feel later. The important thing is that she's in our custody. And right now, I want to hear from you." I prepare my notebook and start on the necessary details. "From your departure to the start of your battle."

"Yes."

Hina took my words to heart and met with Jirobo, the fat sack of Sound garbage, in a clearing nearby. The terrain was slightly loose in some places, which worked to Hina's advantage with her considerably lighter footwork.

It was barely a fight.

The Byakugan combined with the Gentle Fist and Hina's formidable speed made short work of the brute. He was boastful, calling Hina weak at the start and claiming that she had been sacrificed by the rest of us because of that. She proved him wrong very quickly, sealing his pressure points with ease and forcing him to use his curse mark in desperation. It was when he activated his second level that the game came to a close. Hina saw the opportunity and struck, delivering a fatal blow to the area surrounding the heart and cutting off all supply to the area. I can only guess that his curse mark would have given him a great increase in strength, but his speed wouldn't see much of a boost. A solid, pragmatic move on Hina's part, and one of the outcomes I was looking for when I organized the match-ups. She landed a sneak attack on one of the pretty boy twins as she came in to assist Shikamaru. Then she went on to help Shino out by delivering the fatal blow to Tayuya. And after that, the tough fight with Sasuke and Sakura. It turned out to be a very intense affair.

"Sasuke was retreating and I started after him. Sakura came right for me, with what looked like an explosive tag in her hands...it was a fake, but I hesitated just a moment. Sasuke attacked from behind me with a fireball. I fended it off just barely with the Air Palm technique, but of course it put me out of position again...Sakura was about to..."

She pauses and takes a breath in. I keep my face neutral, feeling anger at these things but shoving it away for the time being.

"Sakura was following Sasuke's orders. He saw me as too dangerous to just injure. There's a technique that Brother Neji can do very well, and I used it myself in desperation...it involves expelling chakra from all of your pressure points at once to blow an enemy away. That's how I got out from underneath Sakura, and I was moving to properly disable her. Sasuke attacked twice from behind as I was doing that, and the second was..."

"Chidori," I finish. "It threw you off the cliff."

"Yes. And it was then that you arrived."

"A moment later, and..." I chew on the end of my pen to try and calm down. Hina rubs my back gently.

"It didn't happen. You saved me, Lili."

"Just thinking about it puts me in such a state..."

"I know. I was scared, too...I wasn't thinking of anything, I just felt emptiness and panic. It wasn't like the time in the desert, and I was somewhat prepared to face that level of danger this time around. Still, the feeling was uncomfortably intense. I haven't sorted out my thoughts from that time yet. I don't know if I truly will unpack everything and look at it again. I might just seal it away, for the sake of my health. It sounds a bit unhealthy, but...I don't think every moment should be lived again like that."

"I feel the same way."

"Is...that enough for your report?"

"Plenty. I think things like this will have to be factored into whatever sanctions or punishments or what have you that are to come. If anything significant, at least. There was interference with sensitive data prior to this mission according to Ino. I don't doubt there will be tampering here as well. But...that's more for me to worry about than you, for now at least."

"As long as you don't burn yourself out tussling with elites."

"I'll be guarding what's left of my sanity closely, I assure you."

Hina frowns at me. "That's not as reassuring a statement as you think it is."

"Isn't it? I doubt that a 'more sane' Lili would have reached out to you so dramatically in the midst of battle to strengthen your lioness' heart."

"You remind me entirely too much of Naruto sometimes," she says as she gets up.

"Now that was uncalled for," I reply, playfully pouting.

"Good luck with your reports, Captain Kobayashi. I'm going to pick herbs for our dinner."

"I can't wait." I hum to myself and finish the last part of my notes. All clear. Now, to organize and transfer them to a secure scroll. By the time I'm done, dinner will be ready for sure. Lovely.