15

The Free Shot

A dark shadow dimly outlined by the moon passed over a rooftop before it descended halfway down a wall and stopped by a window. It slid trained fingers over the window before it brought out a small, flat and thin metal plate smaller than the palm of his hand and let it glide between the window and the wall. When nothing happened a small sigh of irritation escaped the shadow and it put a hand flat against the windows edge instead.

Small bouts of energy sneaked its way through the barely existent space between the window and the wall. A small click was heard before he carefully pushed the window open. Seeing that no one was watching he silently snuck in the open window and gently closed it behind him.

The house was dark but not empty. He had spent several days spying on the inhabitants and their comings and goings in the house. The family living there was mostly normal. The mother spent her time at home with her three children. Two boys and one girl. The girl was the youngest and was still a toddler. Her brothers were slightly older. The oldest of the three had a room to himself, while the two youngest still shared the nursery. There rooms were on the other side of the house, as was the main bedroom. This side of the house held guest rooms, and it was one of them the shadow was silently sneaking around in.

The guest in the house was a man from the Earth Country's court. While Konoha wasn't very interested in the man himself, they were interested in the papers he carried. He had them somewhere in his room and was only waiting to deliver them to someone. That someone was supposed to pick them up and they had agreed to meet here, at this lesser nobleman's house in the outskirts of an equally unimportant town on the border of Wind Country.

Too bad they would be long gone by the time he or she came.

The shadow was smaller than an adult. He was lithe, but strong and his footsteps were as good as soundless. He glanced around before he ducked out of the way in case someone should look through the window and spot him. The room was neat but sparsely decorated. It had a bed and a small desk next to a drawer.

It didn't take him long to look through the clothes and the more obvious places the papers could be hidden before he had to start getting inventive. He felt around for a hidden room, but it was either too well hidden, or not there at all. Searching some more he carefully reached out with his senses to feel around for a chakra source. He didn't like doing it in case someone in the vicinity was able to detect him when he didn't suppress his own chakra fully.

He found traces of chakra on many things, including several scrolls. He sighed annoyed. He would have to go through all of them to find the correct one, or take them all. Both alternatives had some merit. One would be quick and he could leave and be out of here equally quick, but it would be discovered just as quick. If he searched the scrolls it was a chance that the owner could be back before he was finished and if he didn't he might have to spend another day in waiting before he could leave Wind Country. It would take him the rest of the night to go through all the scrolls. He had to unseal the seals on them, see what they contained and then go through the tedious process of resealing them.

He didn't know much about seals. In the two years since he was promoted he had hardly had time to take up an interest in it. He knew the basics which every chunin were required to learn at some point, including the seals on sealing scrolls, shock tags and exploding tags.

He knew enough to know it took long time. Especially when he had to make the seals as good as identical to those already on the scrolls, or be discovered. Frustration pitted in his stomach before he grabbed the closest scroll and looked at the seal. All of them were standard seals for sealing scrolls, but it didn't mean it would take any less time and he didn't have that much time.

The first two scrolls went without a hitch. He had just resealed the second one when he heard steps from the hallway outside the room and tensed. He had to be quick or he would lose the one chance he had not to be discovered. Luckily this wasn't the first time he had done this. He only needed that one chance to do it right. He was good at genjutsu.

He got to work as fast as he could and tried his best not to leave marks on the scrolls. The owner had packed an extra uniform, extra equipment, rations, and in the third to last scrolls the papers. Taking them and methodically drawing up the seal again before securing the papers in a scroll of his own he made his way out of the window again.

It was a standard mission. In the past two years he had done countless similar missions. He had learned that some of them were easy and straightforward, like this one, or they got tangled up in something else and made the entire missions four times as troublesome as it needed to be.

It was easy to use a transformation technique and mingle with the townspeople and disappear among them. The town was rather small and insignificant. It was weird how some people thought that if something was secret it would stay secret if they only kept to small and to them unlikely places to meet. Minato had theorized it might be a flaw in human nature that made them think like that.

He soon found what he was looking for. This early in the morning caravans crossing the desert either came or left. No one paid much attention to the many people joining or leaving or generally milling around the caravans. Adding another person to the back of one caravan wasn't much of a problem. No one notices either way because so many were together in front of the gate. Those behind him would think he belonged to the caravan in front, and those in front of him would believe he belonged to the one behind them. It was simple, yet effective. In the chaos that erupted when the caravans entering the small town passed the ones leaving on the narrow road it was just a matter of slipping away and be on his way.

Running over the soft sand in Wind Country was much like running over water. If he hadn't been using chakra to stay up he would have been sinking into it. As the sun rose the day became warmer. To Minato it mattered little as he was soon out of Wind Country and would cross into River Country. Sometimes it was amazing how abrupt the change was between the dry, desert land of Wind Country and the lush green of River Country.

The rivers of River Country had eroded deep, narrow valleys overgrown with greeneries. At the bottoms of the valleys the rivers still flowed at a sedate pace, slowly deepening the already steep gashes in the earth and hard rock. The air at the bottom of these valleys were often still and heavy with moisture, especially as the sun rose and the air warmed further up. The thick bushes and trees were hideaway for birds and small animals, and they all reacted when someone disturbed their peace. It was this easy for Minato to realize when he was being followed.

He ran on the river, the water under him moving the same direction as he was and almost undisturbed by his quick steps. The person following him was on land, or he'd seen him or her and sensed the individual long before. He was pretty sure it was only one person, since he couldn't feel the chakra of another and they would need it to move at these speeds. The person was silent and his or her chakra was suppressed as much as it was possible to do while still using it. If it wasn't for the birds reacting to the ninja flying through the trees they considered home Minato most likely wouldn't have noticed.

It wasn't the ideal place, or time, for a battle. He felt sure it was someone who had followed him from the town, perhaps even the man he'd stolen the scroll from in the first place. If so he hadn't cast the genjutsu as strong as he first believed he had, or the man was better at the art than what was common. That was something Minato should have taken into account, he reckoned to himself. He shouldn't take anything for given in this job. That would get him killed some day.

He kept running while considering his options. He could try to outrun whoever was behind him, but that depended on how much that person wanted to get to him. If he or she was dead set on reaching him that person most likely wouldn't stop until they had to, or didn't dear run any further. Which meant the border of Fire Country which crawled with Konoha patrols. He could also stop and fight whoever was behind him. That would take time and effort, and was dangerous. It was a gamble on the skills of both himself and the pursuer. Seeing as the valley widened slightly and the river transformed into a very, very slow flowing lake like river he stopped and stood at the middle of it.

Whoever was pursuing him had to have known this lake was there, he thought darkly. It was the perfect spot to suddenly show up and startle him, if he hadn't already been aware of him or her.

It didn't take long before the man he had stolen from only hours earlier landed on the water's edge and gazed fixedly at him. Minato looked back, slowly slipping into a battle stance. He wasn't going to let the man regain his breath or try to come up with a plan. The sooner he was taken care of the sooner he could finish his mission and be back in Konoha.

The man was a ninja from Earth, or more precisely the Hidden Village of Rock. It wasn't a surprise really, seeing as chunin often had carrier jobs like this. Take this or that paper here or there. Bring or get. Protect it and make sure it arrived in one piece and preferably readable.

As soon as the ninja moved on the water to confront him Minato threw two kunais with exploding pouches attached to them. The Rock ninja leapt out of the direction of the kunai only to have his vision obscured by water rising in two large explosions. The water droplets glittered in the sunlight and for a short moment they reflected the colors of the rainbow over the clear river water.

The water rose alarmingly in front of Minato to form a giant, rapid current which headed straight for the Rock ninja. He dived out of the way and Minato took the opportunity to throw another set of kunais at him. Seeing the weapons heading towards him so soon after the water current the ninja glanced at the young and seemingly inexperienced chunin before he flipped out of the way again with an irritated expression.

Minato used the moment his opponent wasn't focused on the battle to pick up a few shurikens. He placed them in his hand and looked steadily at the Rock ninja.

"I am sorry," he said to himself before he let the metal stars head for the enemy. The Rock ninja avoided them like he would any other shurikens thrown so obviously; he bent a little to the side, but what he hadn't anticipated was the chakra strings attached to them. One moment he was getting ready to get off the defense and start his own offence, and then he felt the sharp edges of wire against his skin, only it wasn't wire.

Minato stared at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I am sorry, but I don't have time for a long battle."

With that he tightened the strings and changed their composition. Like they had done the first time he formed them they cut threw anything he wanted them to cut through. He stayed on the water for a while to look at spot where the ninja sank towards the bottom of the lake. Blood red blossoms formed in the water to slowly dissipate and be washed away as if never there.

Traveling across Fire Country to Konoha from the border to River Country took two days. The weather was nice all until the last day of travel. During the midday it started to cloud over and by evening the sky was ominously dark and raindrops fell occasionally. The really heavy rain hadn't yet started to fall, for which Minato was glad as he proceeded to enter the main gate.

He was about to greet the guards as he normally did when he returned this late, with a small code word and after that the usual nonsense pleasantries. Asking how the village was, get an update on the newest gossip and to hear if something interesting had happened while he was away. It wasn't really that interesting, but it was often necessary. Small tidbits of information could later tie into a much larger puzzle and only those who knew enough would be able to piece it together. Truth was always a matter of points of view in a ninja village and to be able to see the real truth as apart from the presented truth most often required gossip. If the small details didn't add up with the larger picture the truth presented would probably not match with reality.

What stopped him from speaking, or the guards from speaking as well, was a loud bang followed by the ground shaking. The eyes of all present widened as they recognized the after effects of a large explosion going off. They heard the noise of buildings crumbling and people screaming in the distance. Wherever it was, it was far from the main gate.

Minato just looked at the guards before all they nodded to each other. One of them remained at the gate to close it and secure it before either a regiment of ANBU came to take over, or other chunin and jonin. It depended on the severity of the attack.

Another explosion rocked the houses and ground of Konoha just as they vaulted over a roof. The great explosion was visible from where they abruptly halted as a big, circular cloud of fire and black smoke. They could see debris falling around it, and new screams or pain and fear filled the distance between them and the explosion. Around them other ninja were coming out, and civilians were running panicked in the streets heading for the shelters in the Hokage Mountain.

"What the hell is this?" asked the chunin gate guard who came with Minato nonplussed. It was unheard of that someone dared to attack one of the five great hidden villages. It was simply not done, unless they came from another one of the large villages. At this point, however, none of them could picture any of the other four elemental countries wanting to do something like that. Minato didn't answer, just jumped over to the next roof and continued towards the sound of fighting.

The evening had shifted over to night, and the darkness obscured the people in it. With civilians wildly running in the streets and ninja all over the place it was hard to tell who was a friend and who was an enemy. Minato was glad for the minute details in their flak jackets which made him able to discern allies and enemies.

He crouched down on the edge of a roof and was about to grab a kunai and join the fighting in the street when he saw something strange. The enemy was backing off even as the only ones fighting them were a few genin and chunin. He looked around and felt his breath hitch when he spotted what made them fall back. He didn't wait to think his actions through when he noted how the small papers sizzled in the steadily increasing rain.

He leaped from the roof as fast as he could, grabbed the back of a boy's jacket and flipped him to the ground before he kneeled and ran through hand seals at a speed he didn't know he possessed and slammed his hands to the soaked street.

"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"

He poured as much chakra as he dared in the situation into the technique and prayed it was enough. He knew it was nothing he could do for those in front of him, they would have to fend for their own, but for those behind him the wall might be enough to save their lives.

The explosion shook the ground violently and he could feel the impact on the wall in front of him. Pouring more chakra into it to keep it steady he felt more than saw the people behind him take deep breaths as they realized how close they had been to lose their lives in the explosion. Minato knew he had acted rashly, but he knew this one genin and he be damned if he let him die just like that. Not when he could possible keep him from it this time around.

Burning debris started to fall over them as the pressure and the heat from the explosion died down. Minato finally let the technique go and swirled around to face a large eyed Nawaki.

"How incredible stupid are you?" he hissed angrily and stalked over to him, not caring that they might have enemies upon them any second. He hadn't felt this angry since before he was sent back in time, and that said something.

"Have you any idea what might have happened if I hadn't seen you or come here? You could've died! Your sister would never get over it if something happened to you so try to value your damned life a little more!"

Nawaki opened his mouth to answer him, and by the narrowed eyes and offended expression it wouldn't be a 'thank you'. Minato didn't let him. He glared at him so hard that Nawaki could only blink at the blonde he'd known as a smiling and usually joking, if not a little too serious at times, friend of Kushina.

"You'll do exactly as I tell you and if necessary I'll pull my rank on you, do you understand?" Minato continued and grabbed the other blonde by the arm to pull him from the muddy street.

"You will go to the shelters as fast as you can. You will report to the first chunin or jonin you see there. You will do as they say. I don't care what you were thinking coming out here in the first place, but it is no place for a genin."

Minato glared at him and waited for him to move. When he didn't Minato almost growled in frustration. The other genin who'd been behind the earth wall were all huddled together and looked as if they'd been caught stealing cookies.

"Are you waiting for an invitation? Get to it," Minato ground out through gritted teeth. If this was how Tsunade's brother was it was no surprise he'd been killed. Annoying brat couldn't even follow the simplest of orders. He was about to comment on the lack of response when the sound of metal cutting through air made him react on instinct and moved out of the path of the weapons. He watched in muted horror as the kunais headed straight for Nawaki.

Rolling around with the sound of rain and battle in his ears he found himself too worried about his own life to worry anymore about Tsunade's little brother. Judging by the amount of foreign ninja in the village it would be a long and bloody night.

The first strikes of natural occurring lightning flashed across the sky and lit up the two sides to each other. Minato could see the metal of their forehead protectors shine a dull blue from the lighting and the rain. Usually the metal wouldn't be blank enough to give off any reflection that could possible give the owner away, but when wet they reflected light like any mirror. He couldn't see the symbol they carried, only the determination in their eyes. They would fight to the very end and they knew they would die. This was a suicidal mission and none of them expected to come out of it alive.

Across the sky thunder and lightning rolled and the clouds poured water over Konoha as its streets were emptied for civilians and filled with the bodies of the dead and dying, and blood soaked the muddy roads.

Minato looked at his enemies before he seemed to flow away with the falling rain and disappear. Behind them a tree rose from the ground, entwining its branches around them and roots rose from the ground to bind them. One of them gapped when Minato reappeared from the tree only to slit his throat.

He couldn't take them all in the genjutsu. Most understood they were caught in one, but not everyone was able to release themselves from it. By the time they were free they were met with something they had never encountered before. A rapidly spinning orb of pure chakra tearing a hole in whatever was placed in its path.

Minato noticed the movement behind him a moment too late to do anything about it. He tried to sidestep even as he knew it wouldn't do any good, and lifted a hand to try to defend himself. When the man suddenly stumbled and the attack lost its strength and speed he dumbly looked from the dying man, who had a windmill shuriken lodged in his back, to the smirking dark haired boy standing in the shadows of a house. The red eyes were a dead giveaway but at that moment Minato had never been happier to see Fugaku.

"You looked preoccupied," he said in ways of explanation, but Minato noted the faint tone of a friendly teasing, and suppressed concern, underneath the otherwise flat statement. He smiled briefly in response.

"You could say that. Have you any idea what's going on?"

"They're from Hidden Haze according to their forehead protectors, but I don't know why they are attacking Konoha."

"Alliances?"

"None that I am aware of, but even as the clan heir I have only been a chunin for about a year. There is only so much I can glean from what I am told."

They jumped to the closest roof and squatted down, trying to make themselves small against the dark, cloudy sky and the pouring rain that obscured their vision. The fighting was dying down. They could tell because the flashes of chakra and bright lightening mixed with glowing fire and rushing water were fewer and further between. Either that, or people were switching to hand to hand combat and weapons.

"How did they enter the village?" Fugaku asked. This was going to be a dark spot on the police force's reputation he mused. Not that it was his problem just yet, but he still didn't want to hear his clan bitch about it for the next several months. Minato looked at the walls with thoughtful eyes.

"Scaling the walls? They certainly can't have walked through the main gate and those in the ANBU or close to them guards the smaller gates."

"They can't scale the walls. We would have known." Fugaku's answer was short and to the point and earned a raised eyebrow from Minato. The Uchiha heir shrugged to the unasked question.

"Konoha is covered by a dome of chakra. The mature sharingan can see it, and I am sure the byakugan can see it as well, but it is not spoken of since it is our best and most secret defense. It is instantly known to an alert team if the dome is breached, and they will take care of the intruders."

"I see…. If they are here, but didn't break the dome of chakra, then what did they do?"

"I am asking you."

Minato rolled his eyes at the response but glanced up at the dark and forbidding sky. It certainly looked different with the lightning striking across it and covered in black clouds. He sighed. If they hadn't breached the dome then there was only one logical way for the enemies to have entered Konoha.

"They came from the ground," he said slowly, remembering the way Kakashi had ones trapped Sasuke when they had their final genin test in the future. It was the direction no one expected to be attacked, and so it would seem Konoha hadn't thought of that either.

"Is it even possible to dig under the wall?" Fugaku asked skeptically, but he had an attentive look in his eyes.

"Wouldn't it have been seen by one of the patrols or even the police force? Even the greenest Academy Student should be able to think something isn't adding up if foreign ninjas are digging a hole in the ground outside out walls, " he added and narrowed his eyes in the direction of the tall, imposing walls surrounding the village. Then his eyes shifted and landed on the street below them. His face became stern.

"Then again, why dig a tunnel when there already exist one?" he asked rhetorically and nodded towards the sewage system. Minato grimaced. It was his idea to begin with that the attackers came from below, so he couldn't dismiss the theory even when he really wanted to say it was crazy. Konoha was a ninja village. It was obvious that even the sewage system had to be protected somehow, but it was the only liable option they had at the moment.

The two young chunin exchanged reluctant glances before they moved. They did not look forwards to this.

The sewage was filled with murky, muddy and foul smelling waters. It swelled from all the rain coming down, and it was dark. It was mutely decided to run upside down on the roof instead of on the water. It was that disgusting.

The sewage system was a network of underground tunnels build of brick stone and iron. Nothing was made from tree, as that would rotten and weaken the construction. It wouldn't sit well if the sewage of one of the elemental ninja villages suddenly collapsed. They would be the laughing stock of the ninja world. It was vastly different from the wooden village above. Almost like the two faced front they presented to the world. On one side they were the friendly ninja village and other villages scoffed at what they perceived as weakness. On the other side they hid their dealings in the shadows and made sure nothing that would blemish their reputation was ever traced back to them.

They stopped at a point where the sewage split in four different directions. Minato looked at his red eyed companion with a frown before he involuntarily smiled. Fugaku looked like a drowned rat. Water was dripping from both of them, and their hair was hanging in thick, wet strands while their clothes stuck to them like a second skin. They had greenish brown muck sprayed over their outfit, since the roof and walls were all overgrown by algae and whatnot.

"Where to?" Fugaku asked and Minato looked around and tried to orientate himself.

"I guess we are heading west… if that is so we should end up somewhere close to the west gate… There is a river there, and I know genin teams have missions there to clean up the trash… perhaps it is trash which comes with the sewage. It would make sense."

"The water runs in that direction," Fugaku agreed and they started to follow the stream of the water westwards. They went slower now, listening intently for movements or voices or some sort of signal which could alert them to the presence of enemies.

"Still, how did they know where the outlet of our sewage is?" Minato wondered aloud, but still barely over a whisper.

"Spies? Or traitors… though I can't see what such a small village has to gain from this, or what a potential traitor gains from it."

"The traitor is easy. He'll get money or an important position in the other village… what they gain from it is harder to understand," Minato agreed and they lapsed into silence as they continued to silently follow the sewage. When they finally breathed fresher and cleaner air they knew they were nearing the end of the sewage and what looked like a futile trip.

It wasn't before they reached the very end of the sewage they could see that they had indeed been right after all, even if they hadn't met any enemies. Iron bars had ones protected the opening, and along the edge of the sewage several seals had been engraved to ensure that no one passed without alerting Konoha. It had also been hidden in bushes and between stones that had been removed from the opening.

Minato bent to investigate the seals while Fugaku kept watch. He crawled to the top of the stones and looked tentatively over the edge. Minato glanced up at him when he waved a hand in a placating gesture. No one was there so he could take his time.

The seals had been eroded away, but Minato couldn't tell by what, and only a few of the seals. He guessed they were the main seals, the key seals that bound the others into functioning together. When they were taken out the other seals didn't pose any threat to the people passing them. He knew from the little he had read up on seals that if someone passed here and the seals were functioning they would receive a nasty and strong shock like that of a shock tag, only many times stronger. Enough to fry them alive.

He could only assume that some sort of acid had been used to simply dissolve the stone the seals were engraved in.

He shook his head and exited the mouth of the sewage to join Fugaku. The older boy sat on a stone and looked severely annoyed with the water falling from his long bangs. The rain was still falling heavily in large, cold drops. They made small splashing sounds when they hit the ground and were making small brooks where they gathered before running into the larger river which soon would flow over its banks.

"We should head back," Minato said slowly. It was nothing they could do here. With the weather as it was the rain would have long since washed away any trace left by the invaders, and if someone had been left here they would probably know by now that they had either succeeded or not in whatever they were trying to achieve.

"We can't leave this unguarded. Anyone can walk right into Konoha from here," Fugaku protested faintly. Truth be told, he wasn't keen on staying in this godforsaken place getting even wetter and colder by the minute either, but they couldn't ignore the gaping gap in their otherwise tight security.

Minato did see his point. He really did. It didn't mean he liked it though. He was tired and wet and hungry and a whole lot of other things, and he wanted his warm bed and something warm to eat. Ration bars never was his favorite meal. He nicked the palm of his hand with a kunai before he ran through a set of well known seals and slammed his hands to the stone they sat on. A plume of grayish smoke rose and the two chunin had to take a few steps back to give room to the summoning.

The animal was about a meter long, and if it stood up it would just reach the knees of a grown man. Yellow eyes with a slightly narrowed pupil stared at them. It had oval ears and was covered in orange brown fur with black cloud like markings on it. White whiskers were long compared to the small pink nose and it sat delicately on the wet stone. The cloud leopard only tilted its head when it spotted Minato.

"It is wet," it pointed out, as if that was something they hadn't figured out on their own. The voice was definitely male, but held an undertone of something smooth and silky.

"It is," Minato agreed amiably. Fugaku looked at the summoning contemplating before he turned to Minato.

"I didn't know Yashino gave you his summoning contract," he said curiously. The blonde shrugged a little in response as the animal he summoned gave the Uchiha a small huff.

"Of course he would! Young Minato was his student and perfect for us. We make really good teams, don't we?" it said proudly to Minato, who simply smiled at the attitude. Cats were proud creatures at heart and that had been the first lesson they thought him about themselves. The animal seemed to smile smugly.

"That aside we are the best assassins," it pointed out. Fugaku looked over at Minato, who shook his head that he shouldn't ask now.

"That's not why I need your help right now. You see that sewage down there? Could you guard this place so no one but Leaf ninja passes here?" he asked the cloud leopard. It stretched lazily and looked at the opening of the sewage and the large rocks they were sitting on.

"Naturally, but you owe me for doing this in this weather," it stated blandly. With that it jumped from the stone they sat on, to another and was soon disappeared between the rocks.

"Don't worry. He's here somewhere," Minato said when Fugaku was reluctant to follow him.

They trudged back to the village to find the smaller gate guarded by ANBU, who immediately shrank back from them instinctively. Minato glared at the cloaked ninja.

"You would smell too if you went running through the sewage," he muttered when he allowed them passage.

"The Hokage is expecting every active ninja over genin rank to meet at the Tower," the ANBU informed them when they were about to continue on. To them it didn't matter as they knew they had to report there anyway with their findings.

When they arrived what had to be most of the village's ninja force was gathered in a large hall, with the Hokage and his advisors in the front of the room. They sat behind a large table, dressed in formal robes, but the image was spoiled since they were as wet as everyone else in the room. The two chunin silently snuck in and found a place to the back of the room, but they did draw attention to themselves even when they didn't want to. Several people around them, even bloody and gory as some of them were from the battle, skidded away from them.

The Hokage spoke of what had happened and informed them of the current number of losses, both military and civilian, property damage and what Konoha would do about this. According to him they did not have any information suggesting something like this would happen, and neither did they understand why. As far as Hidden Haze village was concerned it had never officially allied with any other country or village that Konoha knew of. Minato paid more attention when he started to explain the attack itself. He rose quickly when it was mention that it was unknown as of know how the enemy had entered the village.

"We might explain that, if we may," he said loud enough to be heard and indicated Fugaku beside him. The Hokage nodded and Minato took a deep breath.

"They entered through the sewage system. We were wondering how it was possible to attack Konoha without setting off the alarms and the only logical way would be to do so from beneath. We followed the sewage to its end in the river west of Konoha and found that the rocks hiding the opening had been removed and the seals corroded away by what I assume to be acid."

He glanced at Fugaku who nodded briefly.

"The sewage system itself is intact, but how the enemy knew of it and how to bypass the security placed on it leaves us believing they had help from the inside, either a traitor or a spy… perhaps more than one or a mixture of the two."

Minato continued.

"Only the key seals were taken out. The others were intact, so whoever did it knew which seals to remove and knew what kind of seals they were. We left a summoning to guard the opening and came here to report."

Their explanation was met with a deafening silence. Both of the two chunin stood their ground as several sets of calculating eyes landed on them and wondered how to use this discovery in their own schemes. The Hokage looked at them thoughtfully before he nodded to a dark corner of the room. An ANBU in a cream colored cloak and a horse mask came forth and bowed to the Hokage.

"Take three teams and secure the sewage. Don't leave a single corner unchecked. When that is done I want the opening hidden and sealed in a way that prevents this from happening again. Until we've found a permanent solution on this unforeseen problem I want the opening guarded."

The ANBU disappeared in a small swirl of leaves and the murmur from the crowd of gathered ninja slowly died down again. Some of them had a hard time suppress their snickers while imagining the feared Konoha ANBU rummage through the mess that was the sewage. The Hokage turned to the chunin and jonin under his command and they could tell he was both angry at what had happened and saddened.

"The hospital staff is already taxed. I want everyone with any medical skills to report to the hospital. Interrogation, you know what to do with the prisoners. Find out what this was about at any cost. The rest of you will be disposed throughout the village. There are already lists with your names and designed task by every exit in the Tower. Now, do a good job and prove to the world that it takes more than this to break the Will of Fire!"

A roar of agreement came from the men and women gathered in the large hall and every one of them called their agreement. Minato shook his head lightly. If they ever found out what this was about Konoha wouldn't take it nicely. It was so random and so completely pointless that there had to be something behind it, even if they couldn't understand what. What made a small insignificant ninja village attack one of the five elemental villages? Those five villages held immense military power. Messing with one of them without a backup was like pulling the tail of a sleeping tiger.

Minato reported to a small group of trackers meeting on the wall by the main gate. He wasn't too surprised to find Sakumo already there, with a few of the Inuzuka clan members next to him. A Hyuuga stood stoically to the side of the eagerly chatting Inuzukas who didn't take an attack on their home kindly. Loyalty being one of their main traits the implications of treachery was even worse. Sakumo eyed the dirty and tired youngster with a sharp eye before he nodded to him.

"That's all of us. We are to head for the Lightning - Stone border. The Hokage wants a complete run down on the movement of the Haze ninja. We are not entirely sure where in Stone country the hidden Haze village is, but it is part of our mission to find it…"

It wasn't necessary to say what Konoha wanted the information for. Anyone with half a brain could tell why. If the Leaf decided it was needed nothing would remain of Hidden Haze village once they were finished.

Sakumo looked behind them at the places where the Haze ninja had struck. The rain was easing up a little, enough that it wasn't like a grey curtain hiding the ruins from their sight, and the grey morning light helped them to see the damage clearly. Minato winced. He hadn't thought it was as bad as it was, but seeing it know he could tell it reminded a lot of the aftermath of the Sound – Sand invasion. Only this time they hadn't been aware of the attack and the causalities were higher.

"I am not sure why I am here. I am not a specialist in tracking," he said to Sakumo, who turned to him with a smirk on his face.

"No, but from what I've heard you're one hell of an assassin. You were even trained by one of the best assassins in the ANBU squads. I requested one on this team just in case we stumble upon something that needs taken care of quickly."

Translation; I need an assassin in case we find any traitor or traitors. Minato gave an almost unperceivable nod in understanding. He wondered why Sakumo couldn't do that himself, or the Hyuuga, but didn't say anything. If he was here there was a reason for it, and if they didn't say it at ones he'd find out sooner or later. Preferable sooner so he could plan ahead of the game, but for know he would wait and see.

Sakumo turned to the team again this time with more seriousness to him.

"I don't need to tell you that if we fail in this someone just got a free shot at Konoha," he told them gravely. The low growl from the Inuzukas reassured them that they would do whatever was in their power to make sure the responsible were found and an explanation given. It was just a matter of time and endurance.

Weeell... Interesting beginning after a two year skip? For those of you who wonder, the cloud leopard is a real mammal. It is a cat bordering between the big cats and the small cats. I thought it would do due to its nature, and I read somewhere that the uchiha clan was associated with cats, so I found it fitting that their summons are cats of different kinds. I have not forgotten Mist and their plans, even if it may look like it for the next few chapters so please don't nag me about it. And yes, this was the attack where Nawaki was originally killed. You'll have to wait and see if he survived in this story... As for the Haze ninja... well I don't remember it being mentioned who the enemy in that attack on Konoha was, so I twisted it to fit my own plot. That's it for now! To everyone staring school or Univeristy again this time of the year: Good luck and do your best=P but don't forget to have some fun inbetween all the studying!