Feathers drifted down obscuring Sumire's view of the match. 'Shit. Genjutsu. It looks like the attack's imminent.' She made a hand sign. "Kai!" Izumo, Kotetsu, Kiba and Hinata all did the same.
Sumire unsealed her extra sets of shuriken and kunai and handed them to Kiba and Hinata. "With Anko Mitarashi as your sensei you learn to overprepare." She explained with a grin.
Hinata stared up at the Kage box. "Lord Hokage." Two figures burst up out of the smoke. The Kazekage held the Hokage at kunai point in the roof inside a purple barrier.
"The ANBU will handle," Izumo said.
"You kids just need to focus on protecting the civilians and the village," Kotetsu said. "And Suna or Oto shinobi come at you, put them down. Either permanently or so they won't get back up and continue the fight. You are Konoha shinobi. You can do it."
The five of them leapt into battle. They made sure to protect not only each other's backs, but the other Konoha shinobi fighting in the arena as well.
In another part of the stands Naruto watched Shikamaru sit up just as Sakura reached him. "You released genjutsu too, you faker!" she yelled. "Why were you pretending to be asleep this whole time?"
"I didn't want to draw attention to myself until I know just what was going on," Shikamaru said. "I wasn't about to go charging in headfirst, without a plan. Hey, Pakkun."
Gai took out the Oto shinobi sneaking up behind Naruto. he slammed the Oto shinobi into the wall and applied pressure until the wall broke.
Kakashi stood in front of the trio. "Now, I'll explain the mission. As soon as I do, go through that opening. First, track down Sasuke and stop him. Then find a safe location and await further orders."
"Where did Sasuke go?" Naruto asked.
"I'll tell you what happened on the way. Now let's go." Sakura pulled Naruto with her as she jumped through the hole. Shikamaru sighed and followed them.
"Here I was thinking I'd have to drag you," Pakkun said.
Sakura explained how Sasuke took off after Gaara leaving out how Genma had tried to stop him.
"So that's what happened," Naruto said. "I guess Sasuke got all impatient."
"Oh man, this is such a drag," Shikamaru said.
"It can't be helped," Sakura said. "It's Kakashi-sensei's order."
Pakkun led them off to the right.
"How long until we catch up?" Naruto asked Pakkun.
"A long time if they keep moving at this pace," Pakkun said. He sniffed the air. "Come on you guys, hurry up!"
"What is it?" Sakura asked.
"No. There's two squads behind us. That's eight ninja, "Pakkun said. "Wait. No, there's one more. That's nine ninja following us."
"It looks like they haven't discovered our location yet," Pakkun said. A short while later he sniffed the air again. "This is not good. Be prepared for an ambush. They're definitely back on our trail."
"Great," Shikamaru groaned. "They're probably all Chunin or higher. We'll be wiped out is they catch us."
"Damn it," Naruto said. "Since it's come to this, why don't we ambush them?"
"An ambush?" Sakura said. "That could work. It would give us an advantage. Even if there are twice as many of them as there are of us, if we can just catch them off guard."
"No, it's no good," Pakkun said. "Those ninja following us are Orochimaru's henchmen. My guess is, that they're all jonin level."
"I really thought that would work, but I guess it won't," Shikamaru said, resigned.
"Why not?" Sakura asked. "The level of an opponent doesn't have anything to do with an ambush."
"I don't think that's why it won't work," Naruto said. "Is it, Shikamaru?"
"Right, Naruto. Let me explain why. Yes, an ambush is a key battle tactic and can be very beneficial. But for it to work, you have to meet two conditions. Number one: The ninja on the run must be completely quiet and must find the enemy first. Number two: They have to catch the pursuers off guard, at a location where they can do a lot of damage quickly and then conceal themselves just as quickly. It's only under those two conditions that an ambush can truly be effective. Now, the first condition shouldn't be too hard since Pakkun's nose can find our enemy. And the second one also seems to be in our favor since we know the geography of our village like we know the backs of our hands. However, Orochimaru is a former Konoha shinobi, so on the second condition, we're out of luck."
"Why is that?" Sakura asked, her tone derisive.
"Our pursuers have studied the layout of this village," Shikamaru said. "And I have to assume they've been put through simulated practices for this mission. On top of that, they've probably all mastered the art of pursuit."
"So, they know all of our options?" Naruto asked.
"Well, I don't really know," Shikamaru said. "I suppose an ambush could give us an advantage. But so many things are uncertain. Besides, our enemy was specifically put together for this operation. And what are the four of us? A knucklehead, a dog, a kunoichi with no particular talent, and me, the shirker who doesn't want to be here since I don't give a damn about Sasuke."
Sakura glared at him for saying she was almost useless and for the slight against her precious Sasuke.
Shikamaru ignored her. "Look, tactics are about clearly grasping a tough situation and formulating the best plan. And right now, only one plan makes sense. Just one."
"What is it?" Naruto asked. He trusted in Shikamaru's planning abilities.
"A diversion that only looks like it's an ambush. So, one of us is going to stay behind, and slow them down."
"One of us will be a decoy," Sakura said.
"That's right. If one of us can delay them, they shouldn't be able to find the rest of us. We'll be able to escape. Of course, the one that acts as a decoy, will probably… die."
They stopped and stood in silence for a minute. Naruto was about to volunteer, when Shikamaru spoke up.
"I'm the only one who can do it."
"Shikamaru?" "Why does it have to be you?" Sakura and Naruto asked, respectively.
"It's better than all of us being wiped out," he explained. "Besides, I'm the only one who's got a chance of pulling off this decoy act." He jumped over his two companions. "And of surviving this attack. After all, Shadow Possession Jutsu was originally created as a delay tactic. Anyway, I'll catch up with you later."
"You better," Naruto said. "Or Chōji, Kiba, and I'll kick your ass and then give you to Sumire to use as a training dummy."
Get going," Shikamaru said. He shuddered slightly at the threat.
"We're counting on you," Naruto said. "Let's go, Sakura." They ran off through the trees after Sasuke.
A few minutes later, Pakkun spoke up. "Listen, the enemy's coming up fast."
"What?" Sakura said. "Don't tell me, Shikamaru…"
"Shikamaru will be just fine," Naruto said.
"Don't tell me that he just ran away!"
"Look, I said he would be okay and I meant it," Naruto bit out angry at the insinuation that his friend would abandon them. "He's lazy and always complaining about everything, but he will never betray us! I know he hardly ever volunteers to do something himself, but when he says he's gonna do it, then he'll do it. And that's for sure."
"Pick up the pace, slackers!" Pakkun ordered. It didn't take long before he announced that they were no longer being followed, though it took them a good while to catch up to Sasuke.
When they finally did, Naruto spared Sasuke a glance to see strange black markings covering his face and arms. He turned his attention to the creature he'd kicked away from his teammate. He may be similar to Gaara, but they had taken different paths. If he could change the path Gaara was on, great. But in order to protect his friends, family and the entire village, Naruto vowed to do whatever it took even if he had to kill Gaara.
Back in the arena, Sumire pulled her katan out of an Oto shinobi. 'Why are there so many of them?' she wondered. A quick glance around showed the twin tornadoes that were Kiba and Akamaru plowing into a pair of Oto shinobi. Closer to her Hinata was dropping a Suna shinobi with what appeared to be a poke or light tap, but was really her Gentle Fist.
'If only her family could see her now,' Sumire thought. 'They wouldn't be calling her weak then.'
A pair of Suna shinobi leapt towards her. Sumire sheathed her katana and held her hands out toward them. "Striking Shadow Snake!" Multiple snakes erupted form the sleeves of her black trench coat and they brought down the Suna nin with their venom.
Her danger senses, honed by years of training with Anko, prickled. She spun, making hand signs. A trio of Oto nin were hoping to attack her from behind. Her jutsu started out small, a few sparks crawling over her body most noticeably in her hair. Once the enemy were close enough Sumire unleashed the full jutsu. "Raikiri Stream." Lightning danced around her and leapt into the approaching shinobi sending them to the ground.
Sumire pulled out her katana again and redirected the flow of chakra before realizing the battle was over.
"Is it over?" Kiba asked.
"Here at least," Sumire said, seeing the hawk fly overhead and knowing it meant Phase Three was about to begin.
"Well done you three," Izumo said.
"You all performed admirably," Kotetsu added. "Especially you genin."
Kiba grinned while Hinata blushed at the praise.
"Take a rest, you've earned it," Izumo said. "Kotetsu and I are going to check in with the others. Sumire you should stay here too."
Sumire nodded and Kiba and Hinata sat down hard on the steps. Izumo and Kotetsu jumped down to the arena floor.
"You two, okay?" Sumire asked.
"A few scrapes and bruises and I feel like I could sleep for a week," Kiba said. "But I'm alright."
"Me too," Hinata said. "Why would Suna invade us, I thought we were allies."
Sumire leaned against the back of a bench. "I don't know. What I do know is Orochimaru had a hand in it and given that I saw him in the robes of the Kazekage inside the barrier with Lord Hokage."
"Who's Orochimaru?" Kiba asked.
"A rogue ninja from Konoha, current leader of Oto, someone who gives snakes a bad name, and an all-around bastard."
They remained silent, lost in their thoughts about what had just happened and what they'd done until Kakashi and Kurenai showed up.
"Are you alright, Hinata, Kiba?" the genjutsu mistress asked her students.
"Nothing that requires a hospital," Kiba said and Hinata nodded in agreement. "Could you sleep though."
"And perhaps a session or two with Inoichi or one of his colleagues," Kakashi suggested. "For all three of you."
Sumire shrugged. Honestly, she was already considering it. Betrayal from anyone who was supposed to be an ally was almost guaranteed to bring up bad memories.
"I'll walk the two of you home," Kurenai said. "It's all over now."
"What happened with Lord Hokage?" Sumire asked after waving goodbye to Kiba and Hinata.
Her father sighed. "He was killed by Orochimaru." He placed a hand on her shoulder when she closed her eyes in grief. "Did you want to go straight home or come with me to find Naruto and the others?"
"I'll come with you," Sumire said. They headed out and found Naruto and Sakura unconscious, and it looked like Naruto had dragged himself along until he blacked out. The sight of Sasuke though with the curse mark spread across his body thoroughly pissed her Tou-san off. He sent Sasuke home given he was uninjured and had Sumire take Naruto to their house, while he took Sakura to the hospital.
A couple days later, Sumire stood with her fellow shinobi for the memorial service for all the fallen shinobi. They stood in silence as rain started to fall.
The two advisors stood in front of everyone facing the picture of the Hokage. "We are gathered here to remember and honor not only the Third Hokage, but all those who sacrificed themselves in this battle so that our village would survive," Homaru said.
The memorial service went on. Ninja walked up and laid white flowers in front of the row of pictures. Sumire heard sobs and looked over to see Konohamaru bring comforted by Iruka.
"Iruka-sensei," Naruto asked. "Why do they do it? Why do people risk their lives for other people?"
"Well, when someone passes away, it's the end," Iruka said. "His past and future, all the dreams he once had, they disappear along with him. This is true even if he died honorably in battle, as so many have, as Hayate did. All the ties that bind him to the living are severed – all but one, the most important of all, people. Parents, siblings, friends, lovers, the people who were important to him. And the people, the ones left behind, are joined together in a great circle by their shared memories of him – a circle of friendship, trust, and sacrifice that grows larger and stronger as time passes. It's hard to explain it. We remain in the circle together. We have no choice. It's important to us."
"I get it. Sort of," Naruto said. "Still, I'm sad he's gone."
"Think how sad it would be if he died for nothing," her tou-san said. He'd arrived a minute or two ago. "But he left us something priceless. Don't worry. You'll understand one of these days."
"Hey, give me some credit. That much I get."
She walked forward to place her own flower while remembering her interactions with the Hokage. Her first meeting with him when Kakashi first brought her to Konoha after rescuing her from her 'relatives', him coming up with a way for her to be a shinobi and still attend Hogwarts, helping get her into the Academy even though she was younger than the age of admittance to help avoid health complications from either her magic or chakra not being used and fighting against the other and introducing her to Professor McGonagall and old friend of his and her Transfiguration professor.
The sun came out just as the funeral ended. All the ninja dispersed to head to their own homes. Naruto went with Sumire and her tou-san so he wasn't alone, though the next morning he disappeared to do training.
The same day Naruto headed off for training Kakashi stood outside the dango shop. He was waiting for Sasuke, but noticed two suspicious chakra signatures and scents inside. Kurenai and Asuma walked up together. "Hey guys," he said. "You two seem to be getting along."
Kurenai blushed at his implication. "Idiot. Anko just asked me to pick up some dango for her."
"What are you doing here?" Asuma asked. "Aside from catching up on your reading?"
"I need to buy something to put on a grave," Kakashi said, slipping into coded talk. "Plus, I'm meeting someone here. I'm just waiting on Sasuke." His eyes slid to the two figures in black cloaks with red clouds sitting in the restaurant one of whose fingers twitched slightly.
"Huh, it's not like you to be waiting on somebody," Asuma said. He and Kurenai glanced towards the indicated people. "Is the offering for Obito?"
"Obito?" Kurenai wondered, not knowing if it was part of the code and what it meant if it was.
"Yeah. Kind of," Kakashi said.
"Kakashi, it's not like you to show up early," Sasuke said walking up. "What gives?"
"Well, sometimes I do. Just ask Sumire." Once the last word was out of his mouth the two unknowns, well maybe, Kakashi had a strong suspicion about one of them, had vanished.
"Let's eat somewhere else," Sasuke said. "I don't have much of a sweet tooth."
"Is that so?" Kakashi asked. At his look, Kurenai and Asuma nodded and left. "Besides lunch wasn't why I called you here. We need to talk. But it's going to have to wait. There's something that I need to do."
Sumire walked through Konoha mulling over a strange but familiar scent she'd picked up along with a fishy one. Before she could place it, Gai showed up in front of her. "Ah, the youthful Sumire. Do you know where your Tou-san is? I was hoping to challenge him again."
She shook her head. "I don't know but he was wanting to talk to Sasuke…" The Knut dropped. She signaled to Gai to meet her on the roof nearby and out of earshot of civilians. "I think Itachi Uchiha is in the village with another shinobi. I caught a familiar scent, but I couldn't figure out why until now."
"Where?" Gai asked as he prepared a message to the ANBU.
Sumire closed her eyes and spread her chakra out like she would in Anko-sensei's sensory deprivation training. "The river. Tou-san, Kurenai and Asuma are there along with Itachi and someone else."
"I would tell you to stay behind but that won't work, will it?" Gai asked sending off the message with one of his turtles.
They headed off and arrived just in time for Gai to use his Severe Leaf Hurricane to kick one of the shinobi away from their comrades. The two of them landed on the water in front of Kakashi and the others with a splash. Sumire had her katana out and held defensively across her body, lightning chakra running along the blade.
"Well, who have we here?" the blue-skinned rogue Kiri shinobi asked.
Sumire saw Itachi's eyes narrow slightly.
"Konoha's fiercest beast of battle," Gai said. "I'm Maito Gai."
"You're Maito Gai, huh. Mighty stupid looking guy. And who's the squirt?"
"Sumire Hatake, Sharky," Sumire said. At the incredulous looks she could see and feel she added. "You call me squirt, I call you Sharky." She only took her eyes off the familiar figure standing across from her when she heard a splash behind her. She saw her tou-san had collapsed and Gai was picking him up.
"What they must have put him through…" Gai muttered.
"Close your eyes," Asuma said. "Don't look at Itachi. You'll get caught in his jutsu."
Sumire knew she should listen, but she couldn't help the overwhelming sense of curiosity that had her holding Itachi's gaze. Not for what his jutsu was, but whether he'd use it.
"Relax, Gai said. "I know what I'm going. In order to fight Kakashi, I devised ways to battle the Sharingan." He had the other two jonin open their eyes and explained in a low voice about watching Itachi's feet.
"So, what do we do?" Asuma asked.
Gai handed Tou-san's unconscious form to Kurenai. "Kurenai, you and Sumire get Kakashi to the medical corp. Asuma, you'll be my back up."
Sumire wanted to argue but knew she wouldn't stand a chance in a battle against Itachi and someone likely of a similar skill level.
"Alright," Gai said. "I sent word for the ANBU Black Ops, but until they get here, we hold them off. Just you and me."
"Interesting," Sharky said, hefting his massive sword. "I'll give you credit for guts."
"No, Kisame, we're pulling out," Itachi told his companion. "We're not here to fight a full-scale battle. Tempting as it may be, it's not the way to do this. Let's go." The two of them Shunshined away.
The ANBU arrived moments later. One of them checked over Kakashi while the rest took the jonin and chunin's statements. The ANBU medic told them to just take Kakashi home. The hospital didn't have anyone skilled enough to wake him up now, so they'll just have to wait for him to do so on his own.
Sumire brought some glasses of water through to the living room where Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai were sitting. Tou-san was back in his room hopefully going to wake up soon. The three jonin were discussing the rogue nin and why they were in Konoha.
"They're trouble, but it appears they haven't found Naruto yet," Gai said.
"That's what's crazy," Asuma said. "It doesn't add up. They had already infiltrated the village. It should be easy for them to find Naruto around here."
"Unless he's off training with Master Jiraiya," Sumire said sitting down. She stared Asuma down until he put his cigarettes away. "He was training him for the third exam so he might have decided to continue. Or Naruto pestered him into doing so. You're right though. If Naruto were here, it would be easy for Itachi to find him. He knows Naruto's face."
Gai hissed for them to be quiet as he heard footsteps approaching the front door.
"Kakashi," Sasuke called opening the door and walking straight in. He stared at the number of people in the room. "Where's Kakashi? And what are all you doing here?"
"I live here," Sumire said standing up. "And it's common courtesy to knock and be allowed in instead of just barging in like you own the place."
"You didn't answer my question," Sasuke said.
"And I didn't invite you into my house. But to answer your question and speed you on your way, Tou-san is busy, and they just dropped by to visit."
"What is more important for Kakashi to be doing than my training?" Sasuke asked imperiously before scoffing. "And why would jonin be visiting you?"
Sumire took a breath to keep herself from doing anything to the annoying brat who just showed up. On a normal day she'd be pissed at him for his words, but after her run in with Itachi earlier she had to fight to keep her temper in check. Sasuke seemed oblivious or uncaring of both her rising temper and the incredulous looks the other jonin were giving him. "One it's none of your business what my tou-san is doing. Two, there are plenty of missions more important than anyone's training, including yours. And three, I've known them for years, why shouldn't they visit? Now – "
Before she could tell him he'd overstayed his welcome, miniscule as it was, and to get the hell out of her house before she threw him out, Aoba Yamashiro came to the door.
"Is it true that Itachi has returned?" he asked, oblivious to Sasuke standing in front of him and the glare Gai was giving him telling him to shut up. "And that he's after Naruto?"
"Idiot," Kurenai said and Gai face palmed as Aoba suddenly realized who was standing there.
Killing intent filled the room as Sasuke's expression morphed into one of deep loathing. He ran from the room. Gai groaned and gave chase.
"You handled that well," Kurenai said.
"I was so close to hanging him from Hokage Mountain dyed every color of the rainbow and when he got down, I'd have Anko put him through the surprise training she gave me before the Chunin Exams started." Sumire sighed and flopped back down in her seat.
Asuma laughed. "It might knock him down a peg or two. He certainly needs it."
"I should get going," Kurenai said. "I owe Anko some dango."
"I should be going too," Asuma said as well. "Will you be alright on your own?"
Sumire waved her hand. "Yeah, I'll be fine. And definitely better than Kurenai will be if Anko doesn't get her dango."
Asuma laughed and Kurenai blanched slightly. It was well known how much Anko loved her dango and what could happen to people who kept her from it.