Team 7: A Retelling
By: Tellemicus Sundance
#14: Deception, Diversion, and Division

Outside Rikuzentakata,
The next day, morning…

Once they'd snuck over the wall, it was a very simple job of backtracking to the warehouse. From there, it was even easier for Sakura to follow the clues to where the supplies had originally come from before being moved into the warehouse for storage. But what was very unsettling for the young kunoichi was the sight of a train next to the warehouse that was being hurriedly loaded with everything within.

'Sasuke was right,' Sakura thought solemnly. 'The Shogun really is preparing to march to war!' But that realization only heightened her sense of urgency at completing their self-imposed mission.

When Team 7 had returned to Rikuzentakata, they had only one mission: stop the rebellion! Now, she mentally added the phrase 'Damn the carnage, chaos, and collateral damage that'll follow!' This mission may have been too far out of their league and experience to handle, but they were Hi no Kuni's last and best chance at stopping civil unrest and wars from breaking out in the near-future.

As per the hurriedly agreed upon plans they'd discussed as they rushed back, Sakura's job was to backtrack the supplies to find where they had been manufactured. After all, the warehouse was a place of storage, not where those weapons and machines had been constructed. Once she found the factory, she'd destroy it so thoroughly that no one would be able to recover the Shogun's designs and weapons. Once that was done, she'd link up with the boys and then they'd find a way to stop the samurai…somehow. They were making this up as they went along, using Naruto's beloved tactic of improvising.

However, Sakura had to quietly admit that she was finding herself surprised at where the tracks were leading her towards. The trail was of worn dirt with many deep groves of wagon tires, horse and oxen hoof prints, and the occasional human footprint. The trail cut through the forest outside of the citadel and headed in a general eastward direction, up towards the Mt. Akago.

Jumping from tree to tree as she stuck to the shadows, Sakura frowned as she examined the well-worn road. Catching a strange scent in the wind, she landed in the approaching tree and stopped to sniff deeply and carefully at the smell. 'Smoke, turned earth, ash, with a bit of sweat hidden underneath,' she thought looking in the direction that the wind was coming from. If the trail was any indication, the factory was hidden somewhere on the mountain and the strong smell only reinforced that belief since it was blowing down the mountainside. Her sense of smell may have been pathetic when compared to most other ninja, but she was still able to easily deduce that much.

'Better hurry,' she reminded herself as she launched forward at greater speeds. 'The boys wait for no one.'

The citadel was in an absolute frenzy. Samurai and soldiers were busy readying themselves, sharpening blades, filling their powder horns, stocking up on musket balls and arrows, donning their armor. Workers were loading a large steam-engine train with necessary war supplies, extra weapons, and food provisions. Wives, daughters, and fiancées were bidding their men farewell as they prepared to march out to war. But for all the bustle and chaos that was taking place, the center of it all in the Shogun's palace was as calm as a usual summer morning could be.

In his private library, Shogun Oda Nobunaga was looking over various maps of Fire Country, supply reports, and the amount of surplus money he had available for this venture. In the honest sense of the situation, he wasn't quite as prepared as he had first thought he was. Though his men were trained in the use of his new weapons, they still lacked a sufficient amount to supply the army in its entirety.

And then there were the finances. He didn't know why but recently the money flow from his master and their anonymous donator had trickled to a complete stop. Add in that incursion of Konoha ninja, who'd not only raided and destroyed his secret workshop, but had also managed to escape with who knows how many secrets… Nobunaga was starting question whether this venture was doomed to failure.

He dearly wanted counsel with his master, but the man was as elusive as a shadow in the night. He only gave orders through locally-trained messenger hawks and never interacted in person. But despite the cloak and dagger mysteries surrounding him, the man had promised to return to the former glory of the samurai and that was a promise that Nobunaga could not afford to just disregard as hearsay.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi entered the room. The man was dressed in his full armor, wearing both his katana and wakizashi, and bearing the insignia of Rikuzentakata proudly upon his chest and back. "We've scoured the area, no sign of the ninja brats. The men are all ready to ship out and we're almost finished transferring the surplus supplies to the mines. The men are awaiting your orders, Oda-sama."

Nobunaga just continued studying the maps before, staring quite yearningly at the mark of Kyoto, capital of Fire Country and the seat of the Hi Daimyo. All his hopes and dreams lie in that city. But with how things were, could he take and hold the city with just a few hundred devoted men? Maybe he should break out a few of his aces to help give himself more of an advantage.

"Sir?"

"Captain," Nobunaga said, finally looking up. "Have the Choyo and Banryu been loaded upon the train?"

"Of course, sir," Toyotomi answered, looking questioningly at his lord. "I had the men get them fully equipped and loaded last night. I apologize for not asking your permission beforehand, but you had been busy with other matters at the time."

"That's fine," Nobunaga said, somewhat relieved. Once again, he couldn't help but feel completely relieved that he had such a competent man as a loyal subject. It really was no question just why Toyotomi was his second in command for most things. Turning to face the man, Nobunaga said, "Go. Load the men onto the train and move out as soon as you're ready. I'll follow you in the second."

"Yes sir," Toyotomi acknowledged.

As he was in the midst of bowing in respect, a sudden alarm bell started ringing frantically in the distance. It was joined soon after by numerous others throughout the citadel. The two lead samurai rushed to the nearest window to see what was the alarm was for. Upon throwing open the protective paper screen, they instantly spotted the cause of the alarm. A considerable distance away from the outer wall, there stood a large hilltop on fire. But it was the shape that the flames formed that immediately gave away the obvious fact that it was manmade. The flames formed the shape of the Konoha leaf insignia.

In that instant, Nobunaga realized that his plans had been discovered and the accursed ninja were here to stop him.

Unseen and unnoticed by either man, a dark shadow dropped to the floor in Nobunaga's private library. Omoi had heard and seen everything. And while his mission was something entirely different, he couldn't help but ask himself the obvious. 'What is going on here?'

Shrugging to himself, he turned back to his mission of stealing the new weapons scrolls the Shogun had designed.

Three miles away…

Sasuke wiped sweat away from his brow as he gazed at his handiwork. If this fire didn't get the samurai to come running, nothing would.

An evil sneer crossed his face as he took to the trees and sprinted for the citadel. His part of the plan, drawing the samurai out and distracting them, was done. Now it was time to get inside and start Phase Two.

Rikuzentakata

As he was sailing through the air between a pair of buildings on opposite sides of the street, a bolas swung forward from underneath him. The weighed ends quickly entangled his legs and the connecting rope yanked him out of his flight path, sending him crashing haphazardly onto the stone cobbled street below.

"Owwww!" Naruto whined out loudly as he hurriedly tried to cut the ropes and free himself. But it was for naught as a group of samurai arrived, most leveled their muskets upon the boy while a trio kept him at sword point, and one man grabbed his hands and quickly cuffed him in very heavy cast-iron shackles. Looking up at the group that'd captured him, Naruto pouted comically, "Ah, come on, guys! Why'd you have to catch me already? I had a whole lot of fun ideas I wanted to use on you guys this time!"

As usual, his lack of tact caused him to remind the samurai of the humiliations they'd suffered at his hands the previous time they'd caught him. Thus, he was suddenly awash with a potent bloodlust from the various men. The commander quickly ordered him silenced and the men stuffed a filthy rag into his mouth before tying the rope through his lips to keep the rag inside.

In just a few minutes of forced marching, Naruto once again was inside the Shogun's palace in chains and surrounded by samurai. This time, rather than have him taken down the dungeon, they kept him surrounded by the numerous armed samurai and forced to his knees in the middle of the courtyard as Oda Nobunaga was informed.

Though keeping his face straight, Naruto was laughing uproariously in his head at how incredibly smoothly his part of the plan was going. He had to distract the Shogun, keep the man focused on the citadel and the returned ninja insurgents while Sakura searched for the factory. And the explosive tag he kept hidden under the sole of his sandal, glued on by chakra, was gonna provide an explosive finish.

Dressed in finely crafted battle armor that the elder shogun was having a tough time fitting in these days, Nobunaga stepped in front of Naruto, a hateful gaze in his eyes. "So, we meet again, my little blonde friend, and you're in chains again. How incredibly appropriate."

Having his gag cut away and spitting out the rag, Naruto took a moment to get the horrid taste out of his mouth. 'I'll need a good drink of water after this is over,' Naruto thought to himself before returning his attention to the Shogun. "You guys have got quite a party going on here. Can anyone join in or is this exclusive to the 'dumbass motherfucking traitors' club? Cause you definitely got a lot of those around here!"

"You sure know how to make a bad situation worse for yourself," Nobunaga said in a strained neutral voice that belied his obvious anger. "I will not have you make a mockery of me and my men again. Search him!"

Roughly getting hauled to his feet, Naruto grinned deviously as two samurai moved in to relieve him of his various weapons and knickknacks. "You really don't wanna find out what I have in my pockets, boys. It'll end badly for you." He had a real special treat in store just for the Shogun…and the hilarity of what his reaction would be!

"That remains to be seen," Nobunaga pointed out.

Because their attentions were on the captured ninja, no one noticed the gorgeous blonde woman with cold eyes watching the activity in the courtyard from the street.

Mt Akago

"Wow…" was all that Sakura could utter as she finally stumbled upon the secret factory. And, truly, she had every right to be completely dumbfounded by what she saw.

Following the wagon trails to the foot of the mountain had quickly transitioned into following footpaths. From there, she had discovered a fairly large sized cave entrance that was cleverly hidden behind a wall of foliage and trees. With reluctance and considerable caution, she had abandoned the familiar safety of the forest and ventured underground. What she discovered at the end of a short tunnel was a vast cavern inside Mt Akago. The mountain itself was only mid-sized when compared to many others that dotted the landscape, but the cavern inside it was almost unbelievable in its sheer scope.

"They could fit the entirety of Konohagakure in here," Sakura sputtered, still in considerable awe and surprise. "…and still have room to spare!" And indeed, there was a large city nestled inside the cavern.

Shaking her head to refocus herself on her mission, Sakura ran off to the side and quickly scaled the cavern wall. Finding a ledge that offered an acceptable amount of concealment and a rather promising vantage point, she climbed upon it and turned an analytical eye upon what she could now see. Most of the buildings seemed to be residential housings. But there were also lots of open areas that she could see where training grounds of various types. The factory itself was set in the far side of the cavern. It was a large, bulky thing with numerous thick pipes that ran up through the cavern walls, probably chimney smokestacks. It was obvious that the factory wasn't presently running. 'Maybe they only run the factory during the night? That'd explain why we never noticed it during the day.'

But despite the overwhelming size of the cavern and the city inside, the entire thing was practically deserted. Sakura could clearly see only a small handful of guards and samurai roaming about, mostly around the factory and what looked like a pair of railroad tracks. 'That's a good place to start, I guess.' Climbing down from her hiding spot and bouncing over the buildings, she made quick time to the factory.

Coming to a stop on a high building roof near the wall of the factory, Sakura crouched back down in the shadows and examined what was before her. There was a long train on the tracks in front of the factory. From the looks of it, it was mostly carrying supplies and those musket weapons in the freight wagons. At the moment, she saw one crane moving a platform of heavy crates over towards one of the freighters. The operator must've been tired or inexperienced because the crane momentarily jolted, sending a strong tremor through the crates.

"Careful, baka!" one of the samurai supervisors yelled in irritation. "This is gunpowder, not flour!"

'Gunpowder,' Sakura repeated to herself as she examined the crates closely. Now that she was actively paying attention to them, she saw a red flame design on the sides of the crates and the freight wagon it was being loaded into. 'Perfect! I can use that!'

Just before she could move to enact the tentative plan she was already forming, a shadow off to the side caught her attention. Looking over, she had to forcefully catch her breath to keep from exclaiming in surprise. 'A ninja?! Who is it?!' She could already tell that the ninja was no Konoha ninja, the dark skin tone gave that much away since no Konoha-nin had such coloration. Only Kumogakure had that type of color.

'But if Kumo-nin are here, that means…' Sakura mused before realization hit her like a mallet on the head. 'They heard about the weapons and are after them! Probably to bring them back to Rai no Kuni to be reproduced and mass-manufactured! Sasuke was right: we have to destroy this place and those things now!'

Grabbing a clump of explosive notes, Sakura quickly launched herself forward while forming a fast sequence of handseals. Inhaling deeply as she froze the air in her lungs, she faced the shadowed ninja. The ninjutsu she was preparing to unleash was one of her first created, based off of the common Goukakyuu. But unlike the Goukakyuu, this jutsu had the potential of cutting and shredding a person to pieces, as her practice runs had shown her. This would be the jutsu's first use in the field.

Expelling her breath, she let loose a massive funnel of razor-sharp snowflakes and frozen air towards the unsuspecting Kumo-nin. "Hyouton: Aori no Jutsu!"

The oncoming rush of cold air alerted the Kumo-nin. They had just enough time to break off their rush for the train before the snow funnel of freezing death reached them. As they were busy, Sakura sent a spike of chakra into the explosive notes and threw them into the open hatch of the gunpowder freighter.

"What's your problem?!" a loud feminine voice yelled in anger once she'd located Sakura.

Rather than reply, Sakura turned and leapt away with all due speed towards the tunnel the train tracks ran towards. Her evasion was not a moment too soon. The blast of five explosive notes, coupled with several tons of tightly packed gunpowder, was overwhelmingly more powerful than what might've been expected. The blast sent Sakura tumbling through the air, sending her crashing into the cavern stone walls with concussive force. The sheer force of the explosion sent vibrations echoing throughout the whole cavern with tremendous power.

Dropping to the ground with her ears ringing painfully, Sakura looked at her handiwork. The train was simply gone, splintered and shattered into countless unmanageable debris. Only the steam engine remained relatively intact, but knocked on its side several hundred feet off and away from the tracks. Fires burned hotly through the remains of the wood and debris. Then the ground started shaking as an ominous rumbling echoed through the air. Looking up, Sakura saw, almost in slow-motion, as a series of dust and cracks split through the cavern walls and ceiling. 'It's collapsing!'

Climbing awkwardly to her feet with a painful throb in her back, she looked around but couldn't find the Kumo kunoichi. As the rumblings of the impending avalanche grew louder, she was forced to turn away and stumbled into the exit tunnel. Finding a hand-pumped cart on the tracks, she gave it push to get it rolling before climbing aboard herself, weakly pumping the bellows.

A blast of dust and onrushing air heralded Sakura's departure from the mountain as it imploded upon itself.

Rikuzentakata

"Fuuma Shuriken," one of the samurai said, dropping the item onto the growing pile.

"Tessen," said the other, dropping Temari's fan to the ground.

"Ninja wire," said the first, dragging out a surprisingly large, compact coil.

"Can of green spray paint." "Bag of makibishi spikes." "Three bells on strings." "Really big sunglasses." "Large kunai." "Frying pan." "Flyswatter."

"Where are you keeping all this stuff?" Nobunaga couldn't help but ask in slight disbelief.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Naruto boasted proudly, grinning childishly, clearly relishing in the rising levels of comical disbelief the samurai were showing. 'You just gotta love storage seals hidden in your pockets!'

"Vintage Play Ninja magazine?" one of the samurai asked with a slightly flushed face and a raised brow.

"I've never seen that before in my life," Naruto uttered in a painfully fake innocent voice as he examined the cover of the magazine.

"A flintlock musket?" the other demanded accusingly.

"I have a permit for that," Naruto said simply, an obvious lie to everyone present. He'd stolen it from one of their soldiers the last time he'd been here, and they knew it.

"A picture of Nohime-sama in the nude." Now there was a blatant blush on the samurai's face as he looked at the aforementioned picture.

"What?!" Nobunaga snapped, yanking the framed picture from his underling.

"Uh-oh," Naruto uttered, looking almost sheepishly embarrassed at the picture's discovery.

There, displayed quite prominently in the center of the photo, was his beloved and beautiful wife. She was wearing long, extremely transparent silk robes over her shoulders. Thanks to the transparency of the clothing, it was obvious that was she was indeed naked underneath. But what really caught the Shogun's attention and triggered his rage was the writing in the corner. After years of marriage, he recognized her handwriting easily. 'Come back soon, lover boy!'

"What's this?!" Nobunaga yelled, crushing the picture and frame in his gloved hands before dropping it to the ground. Turning to face the captive ninja, he drew his wakizashi in one smooth move, aiming to decapitate the blonde pest. "You little son of a bitch!"

Having predicted such a reaction, Naruto easily ducked under the slash, feeling the winds of its passing through his hair. Standing upright again, he said in an exasperated and confused voice, "Jeeze, I figured you'd have a sense of humor. After all…you married her!"

"WHA—!" A powerful and unexpected punch to the gut, courtesy of the suddenly freed ninja, silenced the Shogun's raging shout prematurely.

Leaning forward to whisper into the Shogun's ear as he picked up the discarded tessen, Naruto said, "That's gotta hurt."

With a burst of chakra-fueled muscles, he flipped high into the air and landed upon the palace's outer wall. In the half-second it took for him to perform this maneuver, the collected samurai bodyguards had already turned their weapons upon him and were aiming to open fire. But it was also all the time needed for the explosive tag he'd left behind to catch fire, trigger, and explode spectacularly. As the closest to it, Oda Nobunaga died in the blast, along with at least five others, as the force of it knocked the rest of them off of their feet.

"That's a job well done, if I do say so!" Naruto barked out laughing slightly. Turning, he launched himself towards where he knew the train had been getting loaded. "Man, I love this job!"

From the shadows, Samui couldn't help but cock an eyebrow at the blonde's tactic. She hadn't been certain if his capture was orchestrated or not, but the end results certainly pointed in that direction. That boy was either very cunning to have planned ahead so thoroughly or he was the ninja world's greatest improviser. But, that still begged the questions of what he was doing here and where the rest of his team was.

A distant rumbling drew her attention to Mt Akago. She watched in surprise as the mountain began to collapse within itself, spewing great clouds of dust from hidden cave systems as multiple landslides were triggered.

'That's where Karui was heading!' Samui gasped in a small amount of panic, already starting to run in that direction to find her teammate.

Outside Rikuzentakata

Coughing loudly to clear the dust out of her mouth and lungs, Sakura sat down upon the track cart. She was still pretty badly banged up from when the gunpowder had blown. That was why she didn't try to do anything more than just watch as the train that had been in the citadel started pulling away and racing down the tracks.

'We were too late,' she realized. 'The attack's already begun!'

"Sakura, you alright?" Sasuke called out as he ran up to her from the direction of the citadel.

"Not really," she called back. "I hurt myself when the mountain blew and the train's already leaving!"

"I noticed," he said as he finally reached her, giving her a quick once-over to determine how badly she was hurt. "Can you fight? We've still got a mission to complete."

"I'll manage," she said resolutely. She wouldn't be pulling out extravagant techniques or attacks, but she could still fight. "Where's Naruto?"

"He'll show up soon enough I think," Sasuke said, not glaring off in the distance at the retreating form of the train. "But it doesn't matter, we'll never catch that train now."

"Not on foot," Sakura agreed, grinning cheekily at the Uchiha as he glanced at her. In response to the unspoken question, she merely patted the cart she was still sitting upon. Sasuke arched an eyebrow for a moment before a devious sneer crossed his face.

(Author's Note) Man, I can't believe it's taken me so long get this chapter out! But in a way, I can understand why. My attention's been wandering a lot lately as you've all probably noticed. And I've got such grand plans for this ending of this story, so it's only fitting that the return of Team 7 in canon and the second coming of the Juubi jinchuuriki rekindled my interest in this story.

Plus, today (July 6) is the two-year anniversary of this story! Wow, has it really been that long already?

Trivia!
I used two prominent references in this chapter. One's from a well-known movie that I know everyone who hasn't been living under a rock as seen. The second one is from one of my most favorite game series. Can anyone guess what the two are?

Hyouton: Aori/Ice Style: Gust of Wind—A blast of razor-sharp snowflakes and ice shards carried on freezing winds, capable of blowing anything away while simultaneously cutting and freezing the target(s). Based off of the Katon: Goukakyuu. C-Class Ninjutsu. (Haruno Sakura)