Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it.
XVI.
- Battlefield -
The military truck passed through an afforested area and the road... well the road could barely be called a road. More of a mired and uneven path. The concussions at every hollow and hole didn't seem to be an issue for the driver because he didn't slow down for an hour now and Sakura, along with the rest in the trunk area, sat and waited patiently.
Several of these trucks separated at the main road, following the plan. The teams were infiltrating the small village from the five sides that were most likely to be used as an escape route from Shimura and his men, in case he forestalled their coming. Thanks to the secret intelligence, they received the information that he is not alone and would probably be well-prepared for an ambush. If things didn't work out for him, he would try to run away, Shikamaru declared before they left, but they would've seen it coming, ready for that scenario too. All those times the Government couldn't hunt the criminal down were because the teams underestimated their opponent.
"You okay?" Naruto pushed her shoulder and she flinched, blinking at him. "It's gonna be fine."
"Stop it!" She snapped, already angry with the amount of underestimation everyone held for her.
Since the mission started, various remarks concerning the color of her face and the condition of her stomach have been made and she tried her best to not punch anyone. Little did they know she was scared for them. It was on her to keep them safe and alive. Not completely on her, though, she wasn't the only medic in the team.
Yesterday Kakashi shared the strategy they were to undertake and the team was separated into smaller groups of three. The threesome she participated in didn't make her particularly happy. Although now, a few hours after they've been separated, she thought it's best she ended up with Naruto. And Sasuke. Good thing that Sasuke was in another vehicle, with Kakashi. Having him around was going to destroy her self-confidence. Sakura looked up, examining the faces around her. Raw and emotionless, she hadn't seen any of them in such a state.
Within that truck were also Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji. All of them were concentrated to their maximum, staring at a point down. Everyone was armed with at least two weapons, a rifle (or a pistol, for the medics), and a knife. Like everyone else, Sakura wore the improved matter of the black uniform that covered the whole body from head to toe like a suit. Black masks hid most of their faces, leaving only the eyes bare. All of them had specialized glasses that they still kept on their foreheads. A midnight blue vest was the other important part of the attire because it contained the necessities every soldier needed to carry along, mainly for the additional ammo.
Sakura and the other medics differed only with the small backpacks they carried, with medical supplies. As she understood later, for many years the medics used to carry a white band with a red cross, tied on their upper arm, but the signature was recently abolished due to the fact that medics were an easy target with that band on and therefore many of them were the first to fall in an exchange of fire.
The village they were headed to was miniature compared to Konoha, but that didn't mean there weren't civilians living in it. It was on the pathway between the two larger cities, Amegakure and Iwagakure. A perfect hiding place for a criminal, Sakura thought, a place where nothing important happened, among civilians. That's exactly what bothered her. The collateral damage. All those people that didn't know a skirmish was about to happen right outside their homes. Did the team think about those people? Or they were so used to death that the only thing that could trouble their minds was not being able to execute the Captain's orders? In any case, Sakura prayed she won't have to use the heavy metal pistol, resting in the sheath on her right hip.
She had to admit it, a big bundle of nerves really had formed in her stomach and it obstructed her normal breathing process, transforming it into a struggle for air every time her chest heaved. It didn't help her to see her comrades so composed and confident. Even well-trained, she still doubted her own strength but for their sake, she had to even out with them and watch over them. It was her duty and an inner conviction, too.
Soon they stopped and Sakura's train of thoughts was ceased. She gave Naruto an inquiring look, not daring to speak out loud anymore. He stood up and shouldered his rifle, getting out of the truck. Within the second he made a circle with his hand, up in the air, everyone got out.
Upon leaving the truck, Sakura noticed a thick wall in the distance. One that resembled Konoha's a bit but that was smaller, two times the height of a man.
"Teams Ten and Seven. We've arrived at the Fifth Checkpoint," Naruto spoke quietly into the transmitter.
"Move off to the rally point," Kakashi's voice echoed back. "Team Ten will take the Fourth Checkpoint."
Naruto waved at Shikamaru and the latter nodded, sprinting in the opposite direction. Ino glanced at Sakura before following him with Chōji. They ran along the line of the wall and disappeared from their sights soon enough.
"Let's go," Naruto murmured and Sakura trailed closely after him.
[One Day Ago]
"Someone fix the corner," Shikamaru waved absently, his gaze already estimating the size of the building in particular.
The working plan he opened up, unfortunately, didn't open up completely as one corner was still folded on the other side. That wasn't his primal concern at the moment since his mind was preoccupied with calculations and finding the most efficient route through the old factory, the one Shimura was supposedly hiding at.
"Fix it yourself," Temari puffed, leaning on the wall. Laughter spread across the whole room.
Shikamaru shot a continuous glare at her, heat rising up to his face. Sakura stood next to Ino and Sai and observed the scene with amusement. There was something spectacular in the way Temari stultified with ease everything Shikamaru built and conquered in the lands of logic and intellect. Although he was known to be uninterested to his very core and bored most of the time, she was probably the only thing in this world that could infuriate him to the extent of gripping his attention completely.
A loud hoot and voices rose up at the sight, including various insults and phrases of the sort "Get a room!"
"We," Shikamaru emphasized, his eyes on the map once again, "will have to be very careful."
"Oh yeah?" Naruto teased him.
"Shut up and listen to me. The factory has two levels. The upper one is a working facility and there will be civilians. The lower one is our objective. It's an underground labyrinth. We'll talk about it later."
"Are we just gonna burst into it?" Chōji asked out loud.
"Kakashi already filled us in on the borderline influx points we're taking. Left the further explanation to me... unfortunately." Shikamaru furrowed, leaning over. He pointed at the main entrance. "Three of five teams will go through the front because the possibility of it being guarded more than the exits is very high. The other two will take the exit on the back and the emergency one, through the west wing."
He sighed. "Breaching through the village wall is the tricky part, actually. As far as we know, there are multiple observation posts along the border. Once we're in, it should get easier."
"Why can't we just go through the normal village entrances? Shouldn't get more fussy than usual. We can take five to seven people down without making a single sound." Tenten offered, shrugging.
"We want to be as subtle as possible. If Shimura's men warn him about us in advance, our chances drop significantly. Much less, Kakashi wants him alive."
"No firing at will," Naruto noted.
"Exactly."
"Let's say..." Temari started, nearing Shikamaru at a slow pace. Her eyes ran through the plan absently. "We get noticed by those on the observation posts." She paused, looking up at him. "Wouldn't be much of a surprise. We are fast but not invisible."
"You're right about that. But..." The whole room sunk into silence as Shikamaru was giving Temari a pointed look. Gradually, a smirk altered his serious expression. "We've got Sasuke to take care of that."
Temari scoffed. "Yes, but how do we know if those guards aren't working for the Government, like us? Most villages and almost every city have a similar guarding system and a border wall."
"We don't know. That's exactly why everyone is a potential target. My guess is Shimura's men are mingled among the Governmental Soldiers. A good enough reason for Sasuke not to spare anyone. He won't be killing them, of course. But that's his part. We worry about ours."
"Alright then," Temari folded hands.
"Now," Shikamaru took a breath. "Let's get back to the factory. There's a high risk of us making a bloodbath there. The civilians can present an obstacle if they find themselves under fire. I suggest we use smoke bombs should that happen. Give them some time to evacuate."
"Agreed!" Lee intervened from the back.
"What's next...?" Shikamaru leaned on the table with both hands. "Everyone gather around the table. You need to see the safety positions and the potential hiding places."
[Present Time]
They reached the wall and Naruto leaned to Sakura. "Just how we practiced. We have to be quick. "
Sakura interlocked her hands in a tight twine and slightly hunched. Naruto stepped a few meters away only to dash her way and, with her help, jump higher enough to climb over the wall's edge. If someone had witnessed their movements from aside, they surely would've reminded him of a dance. In the second Naruto climbed over he reached for her already raised hand and pulled her up with a one, supple motion.
They wasted no time and jumped down on the other side where, thankfully, no one waited for them. In fact, a few houses, separated by fences and a road were scattered across a green lawn. Voices echoed through Naruto's transmitter as every team reported a successful breaching, but Sakura's irises widened at the sight of an observation post, almost completely hidden in the trees. Two armed men just noticed them when Sakura reached for Naruto's arm and he pushed her, both sprinting toward a solid fence before the riveting sound of flying bullets was sent their way.
"They saw us! I repeat, they saw us." Naruto outcried the noise, reporting, and within the second he said it the firing ceased after the two muffled hissing sounds reached their targets.
"You just couldn't resist, could you?" Sasuke's dry voice reached their ears and Sakura raised her head.
"Is it clear?" Naruto raised a brow.
"It is," multiple hissing sounds followed, this time coming from through the transmitter.
"Does the village know we're here?" Shikamaru intervened.
"How do you think?"
"Clean up every post, then," Naruto grinned, looking up at Sakura. "That's an order."
"I already did. Should I clean you up, too?"
Sakura's eyes followed a blue point crawling up to Naruto's forehead and switching up to a red color. Naruto noticed her reaction and furrowed, but before he could say anything through the transmitter Kakashi stopped them.
"Hurry and get to your objective," he ordered, ceasing the squabble. "We've got no time."
[One Day Ago]
"What is Sasuke going to do, exactly?" Sakura asked, curious. Her voice was close to a whisper when she got near Naruto and started a conversation. Shikamaru still talked about the average time any of them needed to get to the factory.
"He usually finds a high ground from where he can have a clear vision of the area. Then," Naruto paused, "depends on the situation, really. I think he'll go with tranquilizers for his first targets."
"Tranquilizers?"
"Yeah, those are something like darts that put down the person immediately. Usually, the target remains unconscious for quite a while. Thing is, if he fires with his Seraphs, the whole village's gonna find out we're coming. That sniper rifle of his... it's loud."
"I see," Sakura nodded.
"Kakashi said he's gonna go with him and... they're gonna join us afterward."
"With him? Why?"
Naruto shrugged. "Truth be told, Kakashi is acting all weird in the last weeks. I think high levels are involved. Watching over us like we're a bunch of first-graders... not his style."
"Could it be that they're concerned about Sasuke? Demoting him was quite the move," Sakura scoffed. "I'm pretty sure he wasn't as happy as he looked back then."
"Trust me, he wasn't. He almost killed me in my sleep that night," Naruto grinned at Sakura's terrified expression. "Said I don't deserve to lead the platoon. Said I was a nonentity and that I won't see progress in anything I do because I'm soft and rely on the humane in a world of monsters."
Sakura was at a loss. "A-Are you serious?"
"Completely... 4 am, held his knife to my throat," Naruto paused, looking at her again. "Quote: Your kindness will be your end."
"Goodness," Sakura mouthed, uncertain what to say. He did seem deeply distraught when he came in the shower yesterday, but she didn't know to what extent. It really was worse than when they were in Konoha.
Naruto stirred uncomfortably next to her, pinching his nose. He glanced at Sakura for a moment, "You know... it's not that it's much of a surprise but I thought I should let at least one medic in the platoon know." He paused again, looking back at Shikamaru. "He didn't sleep at all in the last three days. I don't know, but I've never seen him that freaky."
[Present Time]
The awful silence in that village only rose the tension in Sakura. The temperatures were around zero, but it was dry and fortunately, the fog had lifted. It was around 9 am but the village was almost desolate. Shifting from one spot to another, swift and quiet, Sakura and Naruto didn't face obstacles on their way to the factory. Here and there, a passer-by crossed their way, or a dog barked at them but nothing more.
She followed Naruto's gestures because once they got deeper into the village, talking wasn't recommended. Ten blocks further, they finally saw the edifice. An old, rather big concrete structure with wide windows. The row of black pines and their massive crowns hid most of the building's face, though, and the field of vision was limited. Pasting to the wall of the house across, Naruto looked around and saw Team 10 already kneeling and waiting for the others to gather on the house next to theirs. Shikamaru nodded at Naruto and adjusted the visor to his eyes. Thermal vision.
A few minutes passed before Team 13 appeared, too. Lee, Tenten, and Sai stopped behind a fence and kneeled, placing their visors.
Sakura pulled out her gun and waited for Naruto to give orders. He was still expecting the other two teams. According to the plan, Sakura also had to follow Naruto and her other comrades down to the lower level so she also set her visor in place, put on her mask, and tried to calm down, feeling her heart beating faster with every second.
"I don't like how it looks," a quiet voice startled both Naruto and Sakura and they turned to see Kakashi kneeling behind them.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "Are there hidden units we don't know of?"
"Just the opposite. There isn't anyone outside," Kakashi leaned on his rifle and stood up. "We should move."
Naruto was the last to fix his vision and then he brought out a smoke grenade, glancing at Shikamaru who nodded at him.
"Alright, guys," Naruto said on the transmitter. "Go, go, go."
At the moment they breached through the wide entrance door, the grenades released the smoke and Sakura heard screams of mainly women. She saw the factory was full of sewing machines and the workers behind the tables looked like ordinary citizens.
"If you value your life, leave the factory at once!" Kakashi shouted out while Naruto held his hand up high, withholding the whole team from firing.
A big part of the workers still screamed but headed to the exit, coughing and groping. But at least two dozen hid behind the furniture and laid on the ground, freezing.
"Leave the factory at once, we will do you no harm!" Kakashi repeated but no one dared move.
The Squad advanced further but the silence was never as oppressing. Trailing closely after Naruto and Kakashi on their lane, all she saw was two nuances, gray and white. The thermal vision allowed her to discern the figures around her, despite the dense smoke.
"You are free to go," Kakashi's voice was still demanding but not as loud because the people who hid were a few meters away now.
At that moment, Sakura saw the motion one of the workers made. He reached for something under the table, but before she could warn Shikamaru screamed instead of her. "They're armed. Take cover!"
Sakura forgot to breathe within that split second in which her whole team shifted behind the walls that separated the sections and the furniture, she included. The wave of bullets poured out with a shrill and unpleasant noise that hurt the ears. Sakura shrunk behind a column and Naruto took shelter next to her, both heavy breathing.
"You alright?" Naruto almost shouted, over the bullets.
"Yes. You?" Sakura scanned him from head to toe but fortunately, found no injuries.
"Yeah. Where's Kakashi?"
That dreadful gut feeling shrank her stomach into a tight ball. He was at the very front. She and Naruto were behind him the last time she saw him. "I didn't see him coming our way," Sakura peeked across the hall. The ambush was well handled. The teams have gathered in one place and advanced as one. Everyone was on their feet, except for Tenten that was now sitting behind a table. She must've received a wound because Karin was treating her at the very moment.
"There!" Naruto exclaimed and Sakura traced his gaze to the other side. Kakashi was hiding in a bad position, behind one of the end tables. Too close to the armed workers.
"I can't go there on my own, I need backup," Naruto looked at Sakura and she nodded.
"Captain?" Naruto yelled at the transmitter. "We'll make a distraction. You need to retreat, you're too close to them."
"Is Kakashi wounded?"
"Kakashi?"
The ringing clamor of the bullets still echoed and Sakura could feel the sound soaking in her mind. The firing was unceasing, how were they going to drag the attention? She looked back for a split second, but a bullet grazed her shoulder.
"Don't do stupid things," Kakashi replied, with a bit of a delay. "Even if you buy me the time I'm not really sure I can move right now."
Holding the button on, Naruto exchanged looks with Sakura, confused. "He's probably wounded. We gotta go to him immediately," she said, quickly, "but the firing doesn't stop."
"It won't stop soon. The smoke doesn't allow them to see us clearly," Shikamaru's voice echoed. "They won't take the risk of giving us a chance to attack."
"We can wait out until they're out of bullets," Naruto suggested.
"Kakashi might not have that time." Sakura intervened, quietly.
"Are they equipped with masks?" Sasuke asked, suddenly.
"No... I don't think so."
"No," Naruto confirmed. "Why?"
"Throw all of your smoke grenades at them."
"Clever son of a bitch," Naruto murmured before ordering the team to do it.
It took around three minutes for the firing to stop completely. The strategy worked, intoxicating everyone who didn't have a mask unconscious, although the smoke became so dense that Sakura felt like it soaked through her uniform. Once it was safe to walk around freely, everyone went straight to Kakashi. Sakura couldn't see anything through that thermal visor and it angered her. Silhouettes didn't tell her much about the others' conditions.
"Are you hurt?" Naruto kneeled in front of his captain.
"I'm fine," Kakashi said, breathy. "You need to capture Shimura."
"Sakura, help me get him out of the factory," Naruto took one of his hands and took his weight upon himself but Sakura sheathed her gun right away and helped. Kakashi started coughing within the second he was on his feet but Naruto led him directly out of the smoke.
"We're going," Shikamaru warned Naruto and he agreed with the decision, promising to join his team in a second. He left Kakashi right outside the factory, to the wall.
"You take care of him and..." Naruto paused while putting Kakashi carefully on the ground, "don't go anywhere. Right?"
"Right," Sakura was glad to put off her visor and her mask, kneeling next to her captain. She looked up at Naruto, brows furrowed. "Be careful down there. All of you."
"We will," he waved at her and disappeared back into the smoke.
A/N: I'm splitting the chapter in two because it turned out 7000+ words and I don't want it so long. I'll post the second part sooner than usual 'cause I've already written it. If there's a delay, it's probably because I didn't like something and I'm rewriting stuff. Again. Enjoy.