Author's notes: You're probably wondering where I was for so long. I got hired for a sweet job out of the blue and wound up having to go to a remote scientific research station at one of the ends of the earth. How remote was this place? They didn't have an internet connection, which is why I disappeared for so long.
But at least I took my laptop and had time to write, so here's the next chapter.
Part 10: Fighting the Dead
Standing on the edge of the Eastern wall, Kakashi and Subatsu were concerned about Anko's strange symptom.
"Will you be all right, Anko?" Subatsu asked the jounin.
"I think so. It doesn't feel normal, but it's never done this before, usually it's so painful I can hardly move." She replied.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be able to fight fine. There's movement at the southern gates, we had better help them, nothing's going to get though that flooded forest." She added.
"Looks like they've started to attack us, in broad daylight too, the fools." Subatsu observed as the weapons began to fly.
As the three of them turned to leave, Kakashi made a quick mental note of something he had noticed while looking out at the swollen river outside the Eastern walls.
'Odd, I was told that the floods weren't expected to go down for weeks, but there are already high water marks on the trees. The water level in the Eastern forest is falling quite fast.' He mused.
The forces had begun their rush at Konoha's front gates, but although they outnumbered the Leaf-nin, the poorly trained and badly equipped mob didn't stand much of a chance against professional ninjas with a high wall to protect them. They fended off the assault with hardly any trouble. Ino and Chouji tossed explosive notes and large stones over the edge, while Neji and Tenten blocked projectiles, as Shino controlled his insects, while Hinata and Lee tipped the bamboo ladders that the armed peasants tried to use to climb over the walls. The genin and chuunin at the gates were only suffering a few injuries, while their attackers were being completely destroyed.
"What are you two worried about? We're doing great." A young genin asked those in charge.
Izumo didn't bother to answer, simply sharing a worried look with Kotetsu as they watched the genin under their command. It seemed too easy, and in their experiences that was never good.
A few miles up Konoha's river, Ryuku continued to build up water behind his dam of ice as Han, Taro and Masako laced the ice with explosive notes.
"No sign of Katsuboushi yet, and they're killing our fighters." Masako grew worried as they watched the battle in the distance.
"That's the idea. Once they're killed, I can raise their bodies into an unstoppable army, and combined with the summon jutsu for the Queen in Han's scroll, Tsunade will be dead before tonight." Taro explained to her.
The plan was to blow the dam at the perfect time, then directing the waters into a wave to wash away the walls and other defenses that protected Konoha. He also hoped to wipe out some of the shinobi to eliminate the forces that could resist Orochimaru. Ninja could manipulate chakra to walk over calm water, but the torrent of water Ryuku was going to create would have the force of a tsunami, nothing would be able to withstand it.
"So you've managed to work out the formula for Kabuto's forbidden jutsu?" Ryuku asked as he continued to move his water.
"I didn't just work it out! I've improved it! Taken its use beyond anything he could ever do with it!" Taro replied, his intense jealousy of Kabuto showing through for a moment.
"Stop getting worked up over Kabuto and focus on the mission." Ryuku responded to the medic's small tantrum.
Taro tried to keep his nerves in check. But it was difficult, knowing everything had to go according to plan. He had planned everything perfectly, gone through it a dozen times. Counting on the expendable peasants to be killed in order raise an undead army, combined with a tsunami to wash away any leftover resistance. He had planned for everything, except he hadn't counted on Katsuboushi being late on catching up with them.
"About time you showed up. How was Suna?" Taro asked as a cloud of insects signaled Katsuboushi's return.
"Exactly how we left it, horrible." The masked shinobi replied.
"It's done now, I've got enough water to wash away their defenses." Ryuku replied, turning to Masako.
"Okay Masako, your turn. We couldn't do it in the quarry, but now there's enough moisture to go all the way." He ordered his teammate.
"They won't be able to see through this at all." Masako answered, forming her seals.
As the last of their enemies fell or ran, many of the genin started cheering. It seemed as though the ninjas of Konoha had made quick work of the former peasants turned amateur soldiers who had dared to attempt such a foolish attack on their village.
As their charges already had begun to celebrate, Izumo and Kotetsu had jumped down to the outer portion of the wall and wandered between the bodies, prodding, turning the remains over to see if they really were dead.
"Everything seems normal." Kotetsu finally said, almost ready to admit that it really had been an easy victory, as a blanket of chilly mist suddenly surrounded them.
"That's strange, fog in the middle of a summer afternoon?" Izumo wondered.
The cheering died down as confused shinobi looked everywhere as a damp, thick fog descended on the entire area, shivering in clothing too damp for the suddenly chilly weather as everything went dark and rain began to pour down.
"I can't see an arm's length in front of me!" Izumo said in frustration as the wind howled.
"The bodies, they're moving, get your weapons out!" Kotetsu suddenly shouted.
As they looked through the dark mist, it seemed as though their enemies had come back from the dead. Even bodies that had limbs cut off and large gaping wounds stood up and began to fight again with the combat skills of any trained ninja, taking Izumo and Kotetsu completely by surprise.
They slashed hard with their kunai, but the reanimated corpses didn't even flinch. Surrounded, they pressed back-to back as the undead army closed in, before a series of explosions blew some of the mob aside as Anko and Subatsu cleared a path for them to retreat back over the walls.
"I saw bodies reanimated this way on a previous mission, you can burn or blow them up!" Anko shouted, rallying the other shinobi.
Seeing their new enemies were not invincible, the Konoha shinobi fought back bravely, but the battle had become much more difficult. With the raging storm, it was getting difficult to perform jutsus to burn or blow up the bodies, and they now fought with much more skill and speed then before.
"There's too many and we don't have enough explosives, retreat!" Kotetsu ordered.
The fight had suddenly turned against them. Everyone finally began to pull back from the South gates as their enemies poured over the walls. Running deeper into the evacuated village, they laid as many traps as they could, which didn't stop the horde, although it did slow them down. The ANBU were able to produce some fire jutsus to keep back the bodies, but the rain greatly reduced their effect.
"Perhaps we could make a better strategy if we knew how they're raising the dead. " Lee suggested to his team as they set the last of their traps.
"It's hard to see in this storm, I need to get a closer look at one." Neji answered.
Tenten picked up a large spear that had been dropped in the confusion and pinned a reanimated corpse to a building with it. As Shino's and Neji's teams regrouped around the pinned body, they watched as Neji moved quickly, scanning the body with Byukugan before making a slashing motion with his pointer and index fingers causing the corpse to fall limp. Extracting something from the back of the neck, he showed the small strange insect on the tip of his blade to Shino.
"That tiny thing was moving the body?" Kiba asked, looking over Shino's shoulder.
"It was lodged in the base of the brain stem. There was a string formed from a chakra I had never seen before. What is this?" Neji asked Shino as he pushed his wet hair from his face.
"This insect isn't native to Konoha, it's found in the deserts of Wind Country. Whoever is doing this trained in Suna." Shino inspected the find.
"They're attacking from the Eastern forests!" someone suddenly shouted over the storm.
The chuunin and genin that had retreated from the Konoha's gates as the horde ran through the streets hurried to the forests that had been flooded by the Konoha river as more raised bodies rose up from the floodwaters, trying to climb up over the East walls. Standing behind the raised dead, Neji could make out five forms standing on the water in the distance.
Fighting a losing battle, but ready to defend their village to the last, many shinobi, from genin to jounin bravely jumped over the wall to face their enemies on the water, but Hinata and Neji could see something was wrong.
"Stop!" Hinata cried, grabbing Shino and Kiba's sleeves.
"Lee, Tenten, don't try to go on the water." Neji prevented his own teammates from trying to join the fight.
"Got them." Ryuku said as he saw what he had been waiting for.
Taro and the Sound-nin under his command were positioned to the rear of the fighting standing on the surface waters and half-drowned trees in the Eastern forests. As the Konoha ninja caught sight of them and dashed over the water, Ryuku formed his hand seals and made the calm water suddenly become huge waves, knocking them off their feet. With the surface of the water churning waves with white foam with the exception of a calm pool around the Sound-nin, no one was able to form their chakra to stand on the water's surface. Even as everyone was swept into the water, they continued their mission to defend the village undaunted, with those who could swim towing the injured to safety.
Katsuboushi then reached his hand forward in a grabbing motion, ordering the bodies his insects controlled to make their move. The unfortunate ninja were suddenly pulled underwater by the undead, holding them just below the surface as they waited patiently for them to drown. Han stumbled back in horror, trying to balance on the water's surface as he watched Ryuku drowning his victims, although he found Masako's encouragement even worse, he had never seen this side of her.
"That's it, we're going to win. Drown them! Kill them all!" Masako seemed almost proud of Ryuku's and Katsuboushi's cruelty.
"Han behind you!" Masako suddenly cried out as a kunai came flying at his head before Katsuboushi caught it.
"We've been spotted." Katsuboushi said as he tossed to kunai aside.
Neji and Tenten brandished their weapons as they balanced with Shino's team on a flimsy riverboat they had managed to find. Before Ryuku could attack, he found himself being kicked hard by a green flash, before Lee jumped out of the water.
"Neji, are you sure the blue ninja with the sharp teeth is the source of the problem?" Lee asked as he jumped back on the boat.
"It seems that both he and the girl are making the storm, they have the advantage as long as it lasts. And the insect user is controlling those bodies." Neji answered as he scanned the Sound team with his bloodline ability.
Without missing a beat, Lee dove into the water for another attack from below as the teams prepared to fight on the water's surface. Tenten tried to throw some weapons, but Ryuku simply pulled some water in front of him.
"Why isn't the one with the thick eyebrows trying to stand on the water?" Masako asked as they deflected more of Tenten's weapons.
"He's not trying because he can't; he's unable to mould chakra." Ryuku realized as they began the fight.
Lee had become a skilled swimmer to compensate for his inability to use his chakra to stand on the water, and it had suddenly become a huge advantage, his speed in the water taking even Ryuku by surprise. Ryuku drew a kunai and tried to slash, but Lee managed to kick him back several more times, while swimming away before Ryuku could touch him, agile as an otter. Unable to sustain his jutsu at full power and fight at the same time, Ryuku's storm began to fade to a heavy rainfall, but didn't completely stop.
Sizing up their opponents, Kiba figured that the blue skinned ninja and the one wearing the hood and plate armor were better left to Lee, Neji and Shino and figured the easiest target was the nervous looking guy with bucked teeth. Snarling, he lunged after Han.
Faced with both a snarling Kiba and the wolf sized Akamaru, Han panicked and tried to run before a swarm of stinging insects not native to Konoha came to his defense. Han watched as Katsuboushi drove a yelping Akamaru back.
"You fool, a ninja who turns their back on a fight is dead, why are you running?" Katsuboushi asked Han as he defended his teammate.
"I ran out of explosive tags." Han's lame excuse disgusted the professional ninja.
"Hang on Akamaru." Kiba tried to keep the swarm off himself as he did his best to help a whimpering and badly stung Akamaru.
"I'll take him on, he's an insect user like me." Shino stepped forward as his insects began the attack.
"Be careful, he doesn't smell normal." Kiba snorted at Katsuboushi.
Shino and Katsuboushi's swarms clashed briefly, both appearing equally matched before Shino suddenly collapsed, hardly breathing, his body racked with pain.
"You've already seen my insects control the dead, I really did think you would have realized that trying to eat my chakra wasn't a smart thing to do." Katsuboushi whispered in his hoarse voice as he reached his hand forward in a grabbing motion.
Katsuboushi's swarm tried to attack Shino's insect colony again, but Hinata fended his swarm off, striking each one with pinpoint accuracy as Kiba and Akamaru pulled Shino out of Katsuboushi's reach.
Even while gripped with pain, Shino's first concern was the ability of his teammates to fight back and defend their village.
"Get back, Hinata, his insects are eating mine, I can't stop them." Shino said through gritted teeth as she tried to help him, he was literally fighting for his life.
"Let your insects take some of my chakra." Hinata replied as she ignored his order and both crushed and removed Katsuboushi's insects off of Shino with Jyuken.
Katsuoboush pulled his insects back briefly, not wanting to lose any more as he saw Masako send Tenten flying back with a gust of wind from the corner of his eye.
"Are the insect user and Hyuuga girl dead yet?" she asked him.
"No, my insects can't attack her, the way she pushes chakra out of her body." Katsuboushi said as he realized what an enormous advantage Jyuken had over his insects.
'So this is the Byukugan's power, Taro was wise to want you all dead.' Katsuboushi thought, turning to Ryuku as on of his insects brought him an important message.
"Gaara and his team are coming, why haven't you brought their walls down?" he demanded.
"I'm looking for Gaara to come, killing him and the Hokage at once would be even better." Ryuku answered.
"Don't wait on him, it may not work on Gaara, you have to destroy Konoha now." Katsuboushi told Ryuku
"I'm not worried about Gaara. Shaukaku may be powerful, but Isonade can't be defeated with this much water to feed my power." Ryuku brushed off Katsuboushi's warning.
The insect handler wouldn't have any of it.
"You're an arrogant idiot, you don't know what he can do, crush the Leaf now." He argued back.
"Don't tell me what to do, you pile of maggots." Ryuku bared his sharp teeth in anger.
"They're arguing with each other." Hinata felt confused as they watched the conflict.
Professional shinobi didn't argue with each other in the field, always taught from the start that the team had to work together or they wouldn't survive.
"How can they be so powerful and not know what they're doing?" Kiba asked in astonishment.
By now the fight had reached something of a stalemate. Lee was simply too fast to be hit, dodging before Ryuku's water could catch up to him. But he couldn't strike Ryuku either, as his water made a shield and absorbed the force of Lee's strikes. Neji and Tenten tried to help Lee, but balancing on the riverboat in the rough stormy water, they could barely stay on the surface, let alone fight.
Ryuku was also beginning to get the upper hand with Lee. The cold water and wind was draining his body heat, slowly weakening him.
"Forget it, you can't beat me without any ninjutsu or genjutsu, why don't you just give up?" Ryuku asked Lee, now so exhausted he could barely swim, let alone fight.
As the Leaf teams regrouped and prepared to fight again, a loud roar suddenly started in the distance.
"What's that?" Hinata asked.
"It sounds like a sandstorm that once hit my home when the soil dried up." Han said in concern.
"It's just the wind and rain." Masako answerd.
"It's Gaara, use the tsunami now." Katsuboushi urged his team leader.
"Not just yet." Ryuku waited until all the shinobi coming at them were at the distance he wanted as he started his seal sequence.
"Now." He completed the final hand seal.
They couldn't see the reason for the move as first, until it became obvious that the water level was dropping rapidly, leaving the riverboat on the ground. The water formed a tsunami and was now rushing towards the village. The Leaf shinobi suddenly realized that they were at the wrong place, with a wall of water rushing towards them and Konoha, there was nothing they could do.
With no further need to rush, Gaara's sand placed everyone on the ground. Cold and wet from the storm, the group moved east, past the main gate, along the banks of the flooded river, littered with the remains of Konoha's attackers. As one of Roka's crows came and informed them of where the most serious fighting was, Shikamaru's team, along with Kouichi and the Sand siblings circled wide around the conflict, hopping through the treetops towards the flooded lowlands.
"No sign of anyone alive by the gates." Roka translated his crow's report as the Sakura, Shikamaru's team and the sand siblings approached Konoha, carried by Gaara's sand as his bat fluttered behind.
"What are you talking about? I can see lots of fighting in the distance." Temari replied.
"Well, this might be hard to believe, but the Sound seem to have found a way to do this whole raise-the-dead thing and create a really strong undead army out of corpses that can dissolve and eat your flesh, it's really creepy." Roka tried his best to explain.
"We saw them do it on a previous mission." Shikamaru backed Roka up, although it was clear from Temari's expression that she didn't fully believe them.
"I believe them." Gaara replied.
His brother and sister listened intently, knowing that he never rushed words.
"Before he fled, I was about to have Taro arrested, because of reports that he had been stealing bodies bodies from the graveyards to study, this would explain why." Gaara said as they reached Konoha.
"Then let's take a closer look." Said Kankuro.
Approaching one unfortunate corpse, Temari threw a kunai at it to see if there were any traps attached to the body, without any reaction. Yumi then moved closer and gently prodded it. Hesitantly, the medic then reached and touched the body with here bare hand, without any negative effects.
"You couldn't even touch the last ones, these aren't like the raised bodies we fought before." Yumi realized.
"These corpses haven't been raised. " Kankuro picked up a barely visible thread attached to the body.
"There are strings of chakra attached; classic puppet set-up." The puppet master observed.
"Hey, keep it down!" Roka hissed at his crow as it started making up a racket again.
"What's he going on about?" Temari asked him.
"He's saying something about this bad charka, no wait…what do you mean the water's going away?" Roka asked.
Sure enough, Shikamaru pointed out to his teammate that the water beneath them was suddenly dropping at an alarming rate, retreating deeper into the forest, adding to the tsunami that now approaching them at a frightening speed. Realizing it would be impossible to run from it, the teams could only watch.
Without hesitation, Gaara quietly drew his hand in front of his face, turning it sideways with his index and ring finger extended, focusing his powers. A wall of sand rose up and crashed into the tsunami, absorbing much of the force and sparing Konoha.
"My tsunami!" Ryuku was furious as he watched his jutsu stopped by the sand.
"Why did you stop the rain?" Masako asked as the sky began to clear.
"I can't keep it going anymore, my powers are reduced with the water all spread out." He replied.
Even with the wave stopped and the rain clearing, the force generated by the tsunami was enough to flip the boat that Neji and Shino's teams had been standing on, sending everyone into the freezing water.
"The rain is the least of our worries." Katsuoboushi quietly stepped back as the Gaara made his entrance, with Taro not that far behind him.
"So, you're Gaara, Kazekage of Sunagakure, I am Ryuku, formerly one who hid in the Mist." Ryuku bared his teeth, excited at the chance to see this individual who even Katsuboushi and Taro openly feared.
Gaara didn't answer.
With the rain stopped, the Konoha shinobi were now able to use fire with full force, pushing back what was left of Katsuoboushi's insect controlled bodies. With the wave gone and the battle turning, Ryuku felt slightly worried, being badly outnumbered and no longer at his full powers, but there was no way they were going to give up now.
"This isn't over yet." Masako said, pulling out Taro's scroll.
Cutting her thumb with her kunai, Masako activated the scroll, then jumped back as a giant snake with a huge gash in its mouth and covered in battle scars rose up from under them. She didn't panic at first, believing that was what Taro had intended. But the medic was both panicked and furious.
"Where's the Queen my scroll was supposed to bring out? Damn you, Kabuto!" Taro realized his plan had been sabotaged.
"You never said that was going to happen!" Masako complained to Taro.
Everyone jumped back as the summon was completed. The snake was massive and not in a good mood.
"I summoned you and I order you to bring down the walls that protect Konoha, and eat Tsunade, the Hokage." Masako said boldly.
"How dare you talk to me like that, giving me orders like a pet dog!" the snake answered, incensed that she had dared to order him around.
Masako was shocked that it wouldn't do as she told him.
"What are you doing? I summoned you, so you have to listen to me!" she insisted angrily.
"A summon is never obliged to listen to the summoner who brought them out. I'll destroy Konoha and eat Tsunade after I eat you." The snake answered as it charged at her.
Masako dodged the attack as Katsuboushi defended her with a flying kick, fighting back as the snake turned on him. Believing she had nothing to lose, Masako quickly drew her kunai and charged at Gaara, but Temari quickly intervened, blocking the dagger with her folded fan before taking a swipe at Masako, barely missing her as the other girl jumped back.
"You're not going to touch my little brother." She said to Masako as she unfurled her fan completely in full battle display, her protective instinct kicking in even though Gaara didn't really need it.
Temari's chakra-laced wind hit Masako directly, but it didn't seem to do any good as Masako jumped back with surprising grace. Temari attempted to use her fan again, but before she could do anything, Masako performed a powerful wind attack of her own, destroying Temari's fan.
The strength of the attack caught Temari off guard. With her fan shredded, Temari found herself in a difficult position. Her jutsu ability was limited without her fan, and her taijutsu wasn't very good. She couldn't see Masako anymore, all they could hear was a mournful wailing that was starting to approach the threshold of pain. It was like they were in the middle of a cyclone.
"You think you're stronger then me? Orochimaru has granted us powers you could never dream of, and Taro warned me about you, I'll slice you and your siblings to pieces!" Temari tried her best to cover her ears as the wind seemed to scream the statement, so loud it was painful…
While Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were occupied with the Sound Team, it fell to the Leaf-nin to try and prevent the unanticipated summon from destroying their village. Shinobi with the ability summoned their animals in a desperate attempt to prevent the scarred snake from rearing up to knock down the tall wall that protected Konoha.
With Neji and Shino's team finally regrouped, Akamaru ran up its back and tried to attack the eyes on its head, only to get thrown off and fortunately caught by Kiba before he hit the ground. Even Kakashi's dogs, working with the pack from Kiba's clan, couldn't bite through the thick scaly hide. The snake responded by lashing its body. None of them were hit, but everyone was thrown back and scattered.
Shikamaru landed on the forest floor, the now knee deep water breaking his fall. Dazed but unhurt, he recovered himself just in time to see Roka cut his thumb and summon a single, giant crow.
"Get on Koro." Roka grabbed Shikamaru's wrist and pulled him on the crow's back, with Yumi and Sakura following before it took off.
Roka tried to dive bomb it on Koro's back, swooping with his wings back and feet outstretched but the snake simply responded by spitting venom at the giant crow, who quickly swooped up and circled high to avoid getting an eyeful.
"Four is too many, some of you will have to get off." Koro complained.
"Drop us off up on the wall, we'll help Tsunade and Katsuyu." Sakura replied pointing out their Hokage who had decided to leave the medics to help the injured and deal with the snake herself.
The crow dropped Yumi and Sakura off and they quickly help Tsunade's summoned slug, who had divided herself up and had been trying to help take the injured to safety. Now they attempted to come back together into a single body as the snake thrashed around, trying to scatter the parts and prevent her from reforming.
Seeing the summon fight was beginning to spiral out of control, Tsunade turned to the two medics.
"Yumi, Sakura, both of you go to the lab and get those sealing stones from the most recent medic research, they're in Room 538. You had better remember how to use them." She instructed.
"But aren't those still experimental?" Yumi asked.
"Well, we could always find a human sacrifice and someone of pure heart to seal the monster in instead." Tsunade replied, looking at the two medics in a not-too subtle way.
"Right, so we're going to go get the stones now." Sakura answered.
Deeper in the eastern forest, Gaara had managed to subdue much of Ryuku's powers, diverting the water with his own sand.
"He's running all his sand through the soil and the water's draining underground where I can't get to it." Ryuku realized.
"So I guessed correctly then. If there's no water, you're no longer as powerful." Gaara said, moving his sand to try and crush Ryuku.
"I don't think you want to keep doing that." Masako stated as she stood over a barely conscious Temari and Kankuro.
"No!" Gaara almost shouted as he quickly formed his sand around Temari and Kankuro instead, pulling them to safety before Masako could stab them.
He tried to fight with his sand, only to realize that the fact that most of his sand was stuck in the mucky ground draining the floodwaters. Combined with the weight of the water meant that he could defend but was unable to attack, unless he let go of his siblings.
Before the Sound-nin could begin their counter-attack, the snake suddenly fell and almost crushed both them and the Sand-nin, roaring in fury as Koro, with Roka and Shikamaru on his back, managed to ram him to the ground for a moment.
Seeing the snake's full fury and much of his water gone, Katsuboushi and Ryuku realized they were better off retreating. Han didn't need a lot of convincing, but Taro knew that leaving now would mean facing Orochimaru's wrath.
"Don't fall back! We can still win!" Taro argued as Katsuboushi pulled him back.
"Forget it, Taro, it's pointless now." The shinobi replied flatly.
"There's no way I'm going back to Orochimaru like this! Stop, I order you-" Taro's protests were cut off as Masako rammed her fist into him, knocking the medic out cold before Katsuoboushi caught him.
With Taro out cold and Katsuoboushi preparing to retreat, the raised bodies suddenly stopped and began to collapse, returning to their previous state.
"I don't care if you're coming or not Masako, but I'd sooner deal with Orochimaru-sama then this, I'm out of here." Ryuku said as he formed his hand seals.
"But we didn't kill anyone from our mission." Masako complained.
"Forget it, the summon's done and Gaara's using his sand to drain my water. We've lost the element of surprise and Kabuto wrecked the entire plan. That snake is probably going to destroy the walls and eat Tsunade for us anyways, let's just get out of here before he eats us too!" Ryuku replied as their forms melted into the rapidly dropping water level, leaving the bodies to go limp and rot and Konoha to deal with the furious snake lord.
As Gaara drained the last of the water, Yumi and Sakura returned with the stones and finally began to attempt Tsunade's binding jutsu. They quickly traced out the paths in the soggy soil to channel their chakra to bind the snake, but when he saw what they were doing, simply thrashed around and wiped out their marks. Trying to buy the medics some time, Anko called out as many of her own snakes as she could, but the snake was much bigger and within minutes had eaten Anko's summons.
They were starting to run out of ideas to stop the snake. Unable to get close with getting venom spit at them, Koro landed on top of the wall with Roka and Shikamaru to catch their breath. They jumped out of the way just in time as Tsunade managed to prevent the snake from trying to thrash into the wall, punching and kicking it for all she was worth.
"So the rumors are true, slug woman! You are a tough old hag." The giant snake pulled back for a moment.
"I only let one person call me that, and you're not him." Tsunade answered with another punch to its side.
Before Shikamaru and his teammate could do anything to help her, they caught sight of a figure covered in mud emerging from the muddy sludgy water about ten feet below the outer side of the wall. They jumped back with weapons drawn as a raised corpse started to come out of the floodwaters and climb up the wall after them, before calming down as they caught sight of the familiar three-fingered hand.
"Relax, it's just me." Subatsu said as he hoisted himself up on the wall.
"You!" The snake pulled away from Tsunade and gave an angry charge at the captain. Subatsu and Shikamaru joined Roka on Koro's back as the giant crow made a brave charge, knocking the snake back.
"Friend of yours, sensei?" Roka asked.
"I seem to recall giving him a free sword swallowing lesson a number of years back." Subatsu answered, recognizing the large scar on the side of the snake's jaw.
As Koro flew into the air, the snake tried to lash out and close its jaws on them but only grabbed air before suddenly being wrenched backwards. Sakura and Chouji had grabbed the snake by the tail and were now pulling him back with all their might as Yumi tried to retraced the sealing pattern with her naginata.
"What are they doing?" Roka asked.
"Trying to help Tsunade with a jutsu to seal it."
The snake tried to turn around, but Tsunade grabbed the back of its head and held it. Alternating between thrashing wildly to try and wipe out the circle and spitting its corrosive venom at Koro, Subatsu, Roka and Shikamaru hung on their wild ride as they soared up with breakneck speed.
"Shikamaru-sama, Roka and Koro can't do this alone, call out Noren-sama." Kouichi urged, gliding by.
Shikamaru tried to perform his jutsu several times, but needing at least one hand to hang on to Koro as the snake continued to attack, it was impossible to do it properly.
"Here, I'll show you a little trick to it." Subatsu replied as he suddenly reached for Shikamaru.
Shikamaru thought Subatsu was just going grab his hand or something, so it was a total shock to him when Subatsu simply grabbed him by the seat of his pants and the scruff of his neck…
And flung him off Roka's crow.
Shikamaru screamed as he did a freefall. The ground was rushing up to meet him as he cut his thumb, performed his seals faster then he ever had before and summoned the Emperor of Bats.
"Who woke me up? I was having a nice sleep. Oh, hello Shikamaru-sama, what can I do for you?" Noren yawned lazily.
"I need you to fly or we're going to crash into the ground!" Shikamaru shouted out his order, horrified that he was now still free falling with a giant sleepy bat under him.
"Why, so we are." The Emperor of Bats noticed calmly as he opened his wings just in time, skimming the muddy ground as he pulled out of the dive with Shikamaru clinging white-knuckled onto his back.
"Long time no see, Noren." Roka's crow called to Shikamaru's ride as he tossed the end of a rope to Shikamaru.
"It's good to be out, Koro." Noren answered.
Holding the length of rope between them, bird and bat king quickly flew around the snake, tying the rope around his neck and jaws, keeping the mouth shut. Unable to spit venom any longer and partially tied down, Tsunade was finally able to hold the head completely still. As he and Roka struggled to stay on their wild rides, Shikamaru felt giddy and sick, weak from the summon. His head swam as they did their best to prevent the snake from moving too much as Yumi and Sakura were finally able to successfully trace out the paths in the dirt that were needed to perform their jutsu.
As the stones that were designed to hold demons without the use of sacrifices or living containers glowed and absorbed chakra, the summon disappeared like a bad dream, sucked up into the special stone. Tsunade picked up the stone and stuffed it into a lacquered box with odd markings on it.
"What was that?" Noren asked as he and Koro circled down to the ground.
"Usually you need a person to act as a container when you seal a monster, but they've recently discovered these stones that can contain chakra in a similar way. They were still experimental, we didn't really know if it was going to work though." Sakura explained.
"Ah, I see." Noren replied as he lowered an unconscious Shikamaru to the ground.
"Is he okay?" Yumi asked.
"He used up all his chakra to defend his village, what an amazing shinobi. Well, Shikamaru, I'm honored to be summoned by you, but now I have to go home. Keep an eye on him for me, Kouichi." Noren instructed his servant with a yawn as he disappeared to in a puff of smoke.
Kouichi circled overhead as Neji's team, Hinata's team and Chouji came rushing over. Roka seemed okay, but Shikamaru was completely out cold.
"Do something!" Ino said to Yumi.
Yumi quickly put her ear to Shikamaru's chest, before realizing what Neji already knew.
"He's asleep." Neji and the medic said at once as everyone else fell over.
"I'm not surprised. That happened to me the first time I managed to bring out my master summon, I slept for days afterwards. A mission following by a huge summon like that, he must be completely exhausted. Poor guy." Roka explained as he hoisted his teammate over his shoulder.
About three ANBU and a few Leaf shinobi had been killed and many more were injured, but of every single peasant from Field country who had made up the makeshift army, not a single one left Konoha's forests.
As the teams regrouped, squeezing the water out of their soaking wet clothing and accounting for their casualties, Lee and Tenten motioned for Sakura, who saw a bloody and bruised Gaara staggering towards them, using the strength he had left to hold his Tenten and Kankuro in his sand until he was sure they were safe.
"Please-" he begged as Sakura leaned closer to hear him better.
"Yes?" Sakura asked.
"Please help my brother and sister." Gaara whispered in her ear before he passed out, exhausted and badly hurt himself.
As he came to, Shikamaru wondered if it was worth getting up. He felt nice and warm, it was daylight and he had clean sheets draped on him. The last thing he could recall was his wild rodeo on the back of the Emperor of bats as he fought a giant snake. It was all in a day's work, and he really didn't feel like working at that moment.
"I'm so glad you're safe, Shikamaru-sama." A familiar voice squeaked as he came to his senses.
He opened his eyes, aware that he was on his back. He placed his hand on his belly and felt something warm and furry.
"I'm in the hospital?" Shikamaru realized as he opened his eyes, sat up at stretched, careful not to throw his bat off.
"Yes, the attempted invasion from Suna has been repelled. How much do you recall?" Kouichi asked.
"I seem to recall losing sight of you sometime after we first ran into those bodies around Konoha." Shikamaru called the bat on his disappearing act.
"I didn't want to be in your way?" Kouichi ventured.
"Sure." Shikamaru answered sardonically.
"Can you explain to me why am I in the hospital?" he then asked, changing the subject.
"Yes, your parents became worried after you didn't wake up for several days and brought you here. I'll fetch a medic for you." The bat flew out of the slightly open door. He returned with Sakura after a few minutes, who seemed to be in a big hurry.
"I've got a lot of work to do, so I'll keep this quick; you're tests say you're fine, all you need is a shot." Sakura checked his chart.
"What kind?" Shikamaru asked.
"All in one. Vitamins, antibiotics, and you need a vaccine update." Sakura answered.
"After everything else that's happened, this is practically a vacation." Shikamaru replied as he held out his arm.
Sakura raised an eyebrow in response.
"Aren't you going to inject me in the arm?" he asked.
"You might want to cover your ears for this." Sakura said to Kouichi before drawing the curtain.
The bat heard the sound of Sakura picking him up and turning him over, before Shikamaru gave a shriek. Sakura pulled the curtain back to reveal Shikamaru now lying on his stomach, rubbing his rear.
"Why did you do that?" he demanded.
"I can't give this type of injection intravenously, had to be given into muscle tissue." Sakura explained before he could ask.
"Couldn't you have at least warned me?" Shikamaru complained.
"It goes faster if you don't see it coming." She answered without a hint of apology.
As he rubbed his butt, Shikamaru noticed a rather familiar type of book in a pink and flowery motif sticking out of Sakura's medic pack.
"Is it just you two, or are all medics plain crazy?" he asked her.
"I think you have to be crazy to some degree in order to enjoy this line of work. Anyways, you're free to go, just sign yourself out at the front desk." Sakura said as filled in his chart.
"Sakura, we need help out here…" someone called her from down the hall.
"Coming!" Sakura's fading steps were met with the steps of another approaching.
Shikamaru responded by scuttling under the covers, not really in the mood to see visitors.
"You aren't happy to see me?" Neji's voice asked him through the blanket as he set a small bundle down on the table next to the bed.
"Normally I would be, but Sakura just gave me a needle in the rear." Shikamaru responded to his crush as he started to get out of the bed, slightly unsteady on his feet after lying down for so long.
"Want me to kiss it better?" Neji asked with a smirk.
"Actually, I'd rather have a shower." Shikamaru answered as he stumbled to the adjoining washroom as he noticed that Neji was starting to follow him in.
"Alone." He added as he shut the door.
"And yes, normally showering together would be a very erotic thing to do. But considering that I haven't washed in a week, somehow I don't think it would be that much fun." Shikamaru continued as he ran the shower, not even needing to hear his thoughts to know what Neji wanted.
"I wouldn't worry about it. Sakura moved you around while Yumi gave you a sponge bath all over yesterday." Neji remarked from the main room.
"What?!" Shikamaru nearly slipped and fell in the shower, the bathtub ring being all that kept him from hitting his head.
"I was just kidding." Neji said through the door.
"You know what, I think I'll take a bath instead." Shikamaru answered.
Shikamaru returned to his room to find that Neji had unwrapped the parcel he had brought with him. It was a bento box full of all kinds of fancy sushi he had brought with him. Picking up a maki (rolled) piece, he pushed Shikamaru back onto the bed, then climbed on top of him and placed the sushi in his mouth, sharing it in a kiss. After swallowing the food, Neji started to work his way up the side Shikamaru's neck and ear.
"Ow, did you just bite my ear?" Shikamaru said, more surprised then angered.
"I like to eat at places with good silverware." Neji replied.
Shikamaru responded by picking up a piece of shrimp nigiri, then moved as if he wanted to feed it to Neji.
Neji opened his mouth, expecting Shikamaru to feed him, but instead Shikamaru playfully popped the whole thing in his mouth at the last moment.
Before Neji could respond, they overheard some muffled voices outside which they recognized as Ino and Chouji. Part of him wanted to be friendly with Shikamaru's old team, but the other part of him was annoyed at having to deal with Ino and Chouji, just when he thought he had Shikamaru all to himself.
Then he got a wicked idea.
"Yeah, that's it, spank me harder!" Neji did his best fake orgasm moans, hoping to scare them off.
His actions had the opposite effect though, and Ino kicked the door open like a firefighter breaking down the door of a burning building.Deciding to leave his master alone, Koichi had discreetly fluttered out of the room as Neji had closed the door to a crack, just in time to see Ino and Chouji walking down the hall with flowers for Shikamaru. Flying in front of them, he did his best to block their approach.
"You two need to come back later, Shikamaru is, well, busy." He said quickly.
"And why can't we see our teammate?" Ino asked, trying to push him aside.
"No, wait!" the bat squeaked frantically.
Hearing two voices behind the door from where they were standing, Chouji stopped, starting to get the hint, but Ino wasn't having any of it.
"Our teammate almost died, pulled off the most amazing move ever, was out for several days and we can't see him? I don't have time for this, get out of the way." she said, grabbing Koichi and tossing him over her shoulder in frustration.
Ino suddenly stopped as they reached the slightly open door, able to make out the voices more clearly now.
"Ow, did you just bite my ear?" Shikamaru's voice was more surprised then angered.
"I like to eat at places with good silverware." Neji replied.
Ino and Chouji's eyes widened in surprise. Chouji began to pull at her sleeve trying to get her to leave, but Ino ignored him.
"What are they doing in there?" Ino put her ear up to the door.
"Yeah, that's it, spank me harder!"
Before Chouji could stop her, Ino kicked the door wide open.
'Aw, I thought Shikamaru really was spanking him.' Ino's thoughts horrified Shikamaru.
"Aw, man, I mean, um, hey! What do you think you're doing, not seeing us first!" Ino hid her disappointment and started making demands.
"What?" Shikamaru asked, still recovering from hearing what she was thinking.
"I thought we were friends."
"We still are." He mumbled feebly.
"Chouji and I have been with you since we finished at the academy, while he-" Ino pointed to Neji "…wasn't even aware of your existence until the chuunin exams. By all properties, you should have called for us before him as soon as you were better." She complained.
"You're going on about what's proper? You kicked the door down to see what we were doing!" Shikamaru retorted.
"Well what would you have done if you were me? He was moaning for you to spank him! Well fine, you go on and spend the rest of the day lip wrestling with Neji, see what I care!" Ino pouted and sauntered out of the room, leaving Chouji standing in the doorway.
There was an awkward silence for a moment before Shikamaru spoke.
"You're not upset with me too, are you?" he asked.
"Don't take it personally, Shikamaru. She hasn't been in a good mood over a lot of things lately, I think this suddenly reminded her of how she's still upset over how Neji rejected her during the chuunin exams." Chouji acknowledged Neji as he apologized for Ino.
Shikamaru finally saw how he had been neglecting his old teammates.
"You don't have apologize for her, I didn't realize how much I was ignoring you. I'll make up to both of you, okay? We'll all go to the next festival together, my treat, how's that sound?" he suggested.
"Great! Hey, why don't you and Neji bring your teams too, I think having more people would improve her mood." Chouji suggested.
"Thanks Chouji, I know I can always count on you." He said to his best friend.
"Don't worry about Ino, I'll go and talk to her." Chouji answered.
Catching up with Ino in the hallway, Chouji could see her gazing over the balcony, her mood growing darker as she watched the group on the lower floor.
"Ino?" Chouji turned to see what she was looking at.
The two of them watched Hinata, with a group of older boys around her. With her developing body, others were now starting to take notice of Hinata and now the group was presenting the shy girl with gifts and competing with each other for her affection. As they watched Hinata, blushing deeply at the attention of so many suitors, Chouji could practically feel the envy coming from Ino. Chouji started to feel nervous, this wasn't helping her mood.
"I'm not jealous, I'm still the prettiest kunochi around." Ino stated the exact opposite of her feelings.
"Ino, I know you're feeling down right now, but I'm sure things are going to pick up and then-"
Chouji couldn't finish his attempt to cheer her up as he saw Yumi pass by, hand-in-hand with a sickly chuunin who had a sword strapped to his back and a slight smile on his face.
Ino and Chouji both sweatdropped as they slumped to their knees in the hallway, stuck in their own personal ruts.
"You don't really want me to spank you, do you?" Shikamaru asked.
Before Neji could answer, the door flung open again.
"Hey, you finally woke up. Hi Neji." Yumi poked her head into the room.
The pair turned to the door, annoyed at being interrupted again.
"It's not that I don't appreciate your concern, but you know there are times when people just want to be alone?" Shikamaru asked.
"If you two want privacy, a hospital isn't a very good place to be." She answered.
"Considering that we live with our families, neither are our houses." Shikamaru replied.
It was true; there really weren't any good places they knew of where they could be alone together. At the Hyuuga estate, Neji constantly had relatives going in and out the doors at all hours of the day, someone was bound to hear them through the thin inner walls. It wasn't much better at Shikamaru's home, where at least one of his parents was always around. But Yumi had a solution for their dilemma.
"Then just go to a love hotel." The medic suggested.
"Love hotel?" Shikamaru recalled hearing about one once, but having never used one, didn't quite know how it was different from a normal hotel.
"It's a hotel where you can rent rooms by the hour." she explained.
"Sounds seedy." Neji answered.
"No it's not, think of it as a nice quiet love nest, where they have everything you need. There's a really nice one just down the road from the hospital, you can't miss it, and you can get these really nice theme rooms for great prices." Yumi said as Hayataru poked his head in the room, obviously looking for his medic girlfriend.
"Wait, how do you know so much about it?" Shikamaru asked as he and Neji slowly turned to Hayataru.
The sickly chuunin simply responded with a wink.
No longer in the mood, Neji left Shikamaru's room to find Subatsu leaning against the wall. The old ninja's presence didn't surprise him at all.
"I see you're assessing us both from a distance." Neji said to the scarred chuunin.
Subatsu nodded, affirming what Neji already knew. Shinobi that showed a lot of talent at an early age found themselves having increasingly difficult missions thrown their way to test their skills and see how they would react, quietly nudging them along a path to jounin. After their roles in defending Konoha from the seige, he knew that he, Shikamaru and Sakura were currently known as Konoha's rising stars.
"Not just myself, there are others, so don't let your performance slip. Tell me Neji, how old are you?" Subatsu asked him.
"Fifteen, why do you ask?" Neji questioned him.
"Before your father died, I promised him I would tell you something important, when you were old enough." He replied.
That got Neji's attention.
"What?"
"Not here. Come by my office in the Academy's upper floors at night." Subatsu answered.
Neji nodded and left without a word. After the son of his old student was gone, the veteran quickly hurried into Shikamaru's room, his attention turned to his current student.
"Sensei-" before Shikamaru could say anything else, Subatsu grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him off the bed and out of the hospital room.
"Come on." He replied as he hauled him out to the waiting area, where he took out a rather old shogi set, the pieces worn smooth by years of use.
"We can play a serious game later. The Kazekage's on the other side of that wall, talking with his siblings, I need you to listen in for the report." Subatsu said as he set up the board.
Unaware of Shikamaru's eavesdropping, Gaara presented tea to Temari, who hesitantly accepted as the three siblings quietly discussed their next move. All three were recovering slowly from their injuries, and Gaara was well enough to walk around town if he wished.
"It is as you feared, Taro and Katsuobushi are working for Orochimaru. I remember seeing our father talking to them, but they never spoke to me, what do you know about them?" Gaara asked Temari, trusting his sister's analytical skills.
"Katsuobushi is quite powerful, but he never was much of a tactician, which is probably why he wasn't promoted. He wasn't born in Suna either, I just recall Taro bringing him in to meet our father one day, saying he found him in the desert. Taro cared for him, and gave him the power to control various insects, but I don't remember them ever showing any bond or warmth to each other, or anyone else for that matter. I don't imagine Orochimaru will be too pleased that they failed, but I don't think he'll kill them, they're too valuable for that." She answered.
"First those monsters, then the trouble with our water supplies and now this, what else could go wrong?" Kankuro complained.
"At least the treaty with the Leaf has been agreed on, but we could be in a very difficult position if anyone finds out how bad our water supply is." Temari replied.
"We will agree to Tsunade's terms, everything should be fine as long as the wells hold out." Gaara decided.
"Where are you going Gaara?" Temari asked.
"I have to talk with someone." He replied as he left the room.
"I wonder what made him change so much." Kankuro wondered as they watched their younger brother leave.
"I think something happened to him at the chuunin exams." Temari replied.
'It was the first time he ever showed empathy.'
It was true that their lives had improved after Gaara had taken the role as Kazekage. But Temari had not realized how much her younger brother had changed until a time shortly after returning home from the chuunin exams, when she received some bad news. Several Sand-nin had been killed in a routine scouting mission along their borders, including a childhood friend of hers. Only some torn bloody fabric, equipment and hitai-ate had been recovered.
The loss she felt had been even more to her then her father, the Kazekage, who had always been very cold and distant. She remembered how she had collapsed at the shock, crying softly over the scroll she had received with the news.
Gaara came in, noticed her crying and picked up the scroll. She hadn't bothered to tell anyone.
"I'm sorry." He gently knelt down and hugged her.
Temari had been so shocked that she stopped crying for a moment, before accepting the embrace.
Outside Temari and Kankuro's room, Gaara passed Shikamaru and Subatsu as they played shougi at a nearby table.
"Is Roka all right?" Shikamaru asked.
"He's fine. They have him on cleanup duty with his crows and vines disposing of the bodies and making cover until the forest grows back." His teacher answered between the clicking of the game pieces.
Gaara walked by with a nod of acknowledgement, unaware that Shikamaru had heard his entire conversation with his siblings. They waited a few more minutes after he had turned a corner, before the discussion changed.
"Sensei, were you aware of problems with their water supplies?" Shikamaru asked.
"No. I know Suna has several sources of water, the oasis is their main source, but if that were to dry up, they have several wells within their borders that they guard very closely. I'll discuss it with the Hokage." He twirled a captured shogi piece between his fingers.
"By the way, sorry I had to kick you off Koro's back, I wouldn't have done it if I didn't believe that you wouldn't have been able to pull that summon off." He added.
"What do you think they might do next?" Shikamaru asked the veteran.
"I don't imagine Orochimaru will be too pleased when he finds out their attack failed." His teacher replied.
"It was confusing, I don't think even they knew what they were going to do next. How could they have been so powerful, but so disorganized?" Shikamaru asked.
"I would suspect it has something to do with the fact that they didn't have Orochimaru's full support, and I don't believe all of them were originally raised as ninjas. Plus with the recent turmoil in Field country, they didn't have a lot of resources." The conversation continued on through the game.
Walking around the hospital, Gaara located Sakura comforting a very distraught Hinata.
"I just didn't know who else to turn to." Hinata held back tears as Sakura held her hand and reassured her.
"Hinata, don't feel as if you're alone. Medics give emergency shelter to anyone who can't go back home. If you don't feel safe and need a place for the night, I want you to go to this address, okay? Call on me any time, I promise I'll do whatever I can to help you." Sakura promised.
"Thanks Sakura." She said, wiping away her tears.
'What a week.' Sakura thought as she watched as Hinata tucked the card into her coat before leaving.
"Excuse me." The Kazekage suddenly said to Sakura as he stepped forward from the shadows.
As Gaara approached her, Sakura felt an inner conflict. As a person, she wasn't too happy about having to help someone who had almost killed her in the past. She also knew that as a shinobi still considered to be of genin rank, she had to show deference to the Kage of another village, particularly one who was an ally of the Leaf. And as a medic, she knew she had to put her personal feelings aside and treat everyone without discrimination.
"What can I do for you?" Sakura asked.
To her surprise the only thing he wanted was to protect Temari and Kankuro.
"I have a request; don't tell anyone about what you saw before or after treated my siblings." Gaara answered.
"If you're worried about privacy, I won't talk about it with my friends, but as a medic, it is my duty to file a report on their injuries." Sakura replied.
"I mean, do not tell anyone I allowed that shinobi to escape to protect my brother and sister, it may give me a positive opinion in Konoha, but Suna would see it as a mark of cowardice against all three of us."
For all the devastation that had been caused by the fighting, it had brought some good, in that the attack and retreat had helped bring down the floodwaters from all the inhabited parts of Konoha and sent a message to other villages that even when they were vulnerable, the Leaf was not to be underestimated.
"Well, I don't think it could have gone any better. We've pushed the Sound completely out of the surrounding area, and the Kazekage has signed the treaty." Tsunade thumbed through the mission report as Shikamaru and the team finished their audience with her.
"Do you require anything else from us, Tsunade-sama?" Subatsu asked, feeling very proud of his team.
"Just enjoy the party next week, you've all earned a rest."
Author's Notes: Let's see how close we can get to a lemon before I'm strangled. Don't feel upset Neji and Shikamaru got interrupted twice, we'll have some good stuff in the next chapter.
Also figured I needed to make some bad guys. Ryuku of the Mist, Masako and Han (none of them have last names), you'll see why when I explore them in a bit more depth later on. I wound up making up some Sound-nin as an afterthought. I've decided to create Ryuku of the Mist as being the container for the three-tailed shark demon Isonade, to have someone who matches Gaara's power. He can make his physical form into water and he's able manipulate water to make it into ice and steam, making shields, generating storms and whirlpools, direct its flow to some extent and he can change his physical form into water. Masako can lace any object with her chakra to make it into a charged explosive, and she can manipulate wind in the same way as Temari, but she doesn't use a fan, this is due to her cursed seal.