Ugh. This is so much shorter than what I wanted it to be. . .
HeavensPheonix561: Hahah. :)
neji's goddess: I just bought it today. :) I'm expecting greatness. I haven't read those---a friend told me they weren't very good. But I'll read the Amazon reviews and figure it out from there. :) Miss Cashore is a fairly new author; if you can't find her in your libraries, you should probably try a bookstore like Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble. They carry her books in the Young Adult section.
Fake Bliss: He is evil. . . ;D
Chirisaa Tomoko: Hahahaha. :)
Disclaimer: I'm thankful Kishimoto came up with it first. Everyone knows I'd run it into the ground.
Burnt.
A messenger came in late on Wednesday night, wild-eyed and harking at the top of his lungs.
Neji came out of the officer's barracks with sleep still in his eyes and the other four captains at his heels, Shikamaru bringing up the rear with a wide yawn.
Sentries held the messenger by the elbow, attempting to calm him down. The messenger wasn't listening.
When he saw Neji coming forward, he started shrieking.
Eyes narrowed, Neji reached the messenger and cuffed him sharply across the face.
The messenger's screeches stopped on a shrill note; he seemed stunned into silence.
"Get a hold of yourself," Neji murmured into the shorter man's face, "and tell me my damn message."
The messenger fearfully met Neji's eyes.
His voice shook when he spoke.
"The—the town Tanzaku-gai. It—it was b—burned to the ground!"
Neji stared at the messenger, looking him straight in the eyes.
Neji sighed.
The fool was telling the truth.
"How?"
The messenger blinked.
"Itachi Uchiha, sir. He was sighted this morning, but . . . no one saw him with his soldiers at Tanzaku-gai." The messenger shook his head, sadness encroaching on his face. "His lieutenant, Kisame Hoshigaki. . . He led the assault personally. . . They set fire to everything. Tanzaku-gai . . . it has barely a handful of soldiers. Literally, it sports no defense. They had no chance."
Neji swallowed past the weight in his throat.
"Were their survivors?"
The messenger frowned.
"I'm not particularly sure. You are the first person I've alerted."
Neji forced himself to ask the final question he already knew the answer to.
"Itachi and Kisame have fled?"
The messenger reluctantly nodded.
"With all of their soldiers, Commander."
Neji inhaled deeply and briefly closed his eyes. A headache was brewing behind his eyebrows, putting pressure on his eyes.
He clapped the messenger on the shoulder.
"Thank you. You may stay here the night, and then I will send you with escorts to the Queen's City to relay this same message."
The messenger nodded and the sentries started away with him, walking towards the visitor's barracks.
Neji silently turned to his captains, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I need two squads, preferably smaller ones to go with me to Tanzaku-gai. We must check for survivors and bury the dead properly."
The four looked at each other.
"Kiba and I will go," muttered Shikamaru, speaking up in his flat voice.
Neji considered the lazy leader of squad four.
Shikamaru stretched, eyeing Neji seriously.
"What? I get to shirk latrine duty this way. This whole thing is a drag, but at least it's not latrine duty."
Neji smiled grimly and kneaded the back of his neck.
"Fine. Then assemble your squads. We leave as soon as possible."
"Neji?" Naruto asked after the other three had trotted off. "You didn't say—are you leaving your squad here?"
Neji nodded reluctantly.
"Yes. Inform Lee, won't you? This is too small a job to take three squads and leave Fort Minato unfairly defended."
Naruto nodded and patted Neji's shoulder before setting off as well.
Neji breathed in the still night air, glancing at the sky.
"What are you planning, Itachi?" he whispered.
Silence—but for the winking of cold, distant stars.
-
They reached Tanzaku-gai at first light.
The soldiers were subdued and unnaturally quiet. Neji blamed it on their lack of sleep.
Their first sight of Tanzaku-gai was on the crest of a hill, a mile off from the town. Even from this vantage point, they could see it was destroyed. The wall that surrounded it was scarred with black and the buildings that lay beyond it were crumbled bits of wood and stone, ashy and charred.
Neji swallowed and moved forward, guiding his horse down the hill.
When he reached the entrance, Neji dismounted, holding his mare's reins loosely.
It was a tragedy.
Neji's forehead creased, making deep depressions.
A second later, he felt a presence at his side. Neji glanced over to see a woman, several inches shorter, with brown hair wound tightly into buns. She was gazing emotionlessly at the burned town before her, face calm.
"It's a pity, isn't it?" she murmured softly, voice barely restraining her underlying rage. "All of those lives?"
Neji had no reply for her.
Kiba was the first to enter, cautiously, with his sword out. Neji and the rest followed silently.
Neji gave quiet orders, though it was probably unnecessary.
"If you find survivors, take them outside the gate. Line the dead in the center of town. We'll build a pyre."
Neji somehow found himself partnered with Shikamaru after he'd assigned Moegi to note-taking; how many found dead, how many survivors, the extent of the town's damage in extreme detail.
"So," the spiky-haired man started as they lifted a fallen beam, "why do you think Itachi targeted this dump? It's for gamblers and loose women."
Neji shook his head as they tossed the beam aside.
"Honestly? I don't what he's doing. This place was completely undefended; no companies, few soldiers, and definitely not enough protection. Maybe he's gotten tired of battles and he's changed his tactic to vulnerable cities."
Shikamaru snorted, pulling a disgusted face.
"If that's the case, half the country is a target."
Neji pursed his lips.
"I have a mind to split up the five squads," Neji muttered lowly so only Shikamaru could hear.
Shikamaru sighed.
"That would be a drag. We all work better as a large group, especially for battles. Splitting all of us up will result in more casualties than we can afford. And with the war going on, I doubt any one squad could travel to the Queen's City to recruit."
"Splitting the five squads up will provide more defense for the common people, Shikamaru," Neji argued.
"It would be better if the Queen appointed civilian defense in the cities," Shikamaru contradicted. "Besides, we go where we're most needed, Neji, and right now, that's at Fort Minato. We'll be lucky if Itachi doesn't attack while we're gone."
Neji stayed silent, an idea forming in his mind. Once he returned to the fort, Neji had to write a letter and he hoped that messenger would still be there by the time he got back.
Shikamaru grunted and Neji helped as they lifted another beam.
A black, frail body lay under it.
Tiredly, Shikamaru called, "Here's another one!"
-
The day was dying when Neji, Moegi, and Squads Two and Four returned to Fort Minato.
Everything was peaceful and they had had no trouble.
Neji went straight to the mess, intent on finding the messenger.
He found him eating next to Naruto.
Neji sat down across from them without announcing himself.
"Jeez, Neji," Naruto exhaled. "You startled me. . . and you look like hell."
Neji glared at him.
"Shut up or it's more latrine duty."
Naruto sourly stabbed a potato.
Neji turned to the messenger.
"I was worried you'd left already. I need a message delivered to the Queen when you reach Queen's City."
The messenger nodded eagerly.
"Anything, Commander."
Neji nodded.
"I'll give it to you tomorrow morning before I send you off. Enjoy your night."
Neji stood and strode out of the mess as everyone else came tumbling in, including the squads he'd spent all day with burying bodies.
As exhausted as Neji was though, he could not wait for personal comforts.
Moegi was waiting in his room, her reports in hand.
Neji shooed her to supper and sat down at his desk, preparing to compile the ideas Shikamaru had come up with.
He was there for a very long time.
True to Neji's instructions, Moegi's descriptions were very extensive, and Neji made sure to review all of them, in case something came up.
By the time Neji leaned back in his desk chair and noticed the woman standing in his doorway, it was well after midnight.
"Looks like you've been at it for a while," Squad Two's lieutenant murmured, smiling slightly. "I thought the festivities today would have worn you out."
Neji sighed and looked at the lengthy letter in front of him.
"I had to finish this," he replied, glancing her over.
She had changed since he'd seen her that afternoon, into breeches and a loose-fitting tunic.
"It must be awfully important to steal your rest from you."
"Yes. It's a letter to the Queen I'm sending by messenger tomorrow. Details of Tanzaku-gai, how many dead we found, things like that."
A corner of TenTen's mouth turned down.
"I wasn't expecting so many. And the fact there were no survivors? Impossible. A whole town burned to death." She shook her head. "If anything, I would say that Itachi ordered any survivors dead if they escaped. . . or he took them captive."
This last suggestion was new to Neji.
He turned to look her in the eyes.
"Do you think that's possible?"
TenTen shrugged.
"I meandered around a bit before we left. Around the north direction of the wall the grass was flatter than the rest. Itachi went north with his company. I saw no wagon trail, so capture is unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out as an option."
Neji understood where she was going.
"You think Itachi will use them for soldiers?"
TenTen shrugged again, her face turning more skeptical.
"It would explain why his army never seems to lose numbers," she offered.
Neji's eyes narrowed, his mind far away.
"What's wrong?" TenTen asked, noticing the change.
"Shikamaru made an interesting point today, a very plausible one. If what you said holds any leverage, Itachi could start using our towns as a base of recruitment."
TenTen cursed and sighed heavily.
"That bastard. . . He could be using our own people for his army. If Tsunade finds out, she'll be furious."
"Which is why I'm telling her now," Neji muttered, shifting back to his letter to add the new information.
It was quiet at the door for a moment; TenTen was considering Neji.
"What do you think she'll do, Commander?"
Neji paused in his writing.
"I don't know," he released. "The Queen likes control and this will set her in a definite rage. I would hate to be there to receive the brunt of it."
TenTen snorted.
"I second that. Goodnight, Commander."
-
Shizune hated receiving disturbing messages.
The messenger from Fort Minato arrived with escorts a week to the day they rode out.
The news was dire.
Tanzaku-gai, a town a few miles from Fort Minato, had been burned to the ground, leaving no survivors.
Commander Hyuga's letter was long, but filled with enough information to make Shizune's head spin. The theories Captain Nara and Lieutenant TenTen had presented were firmly covered and frighteningly probable.
Shizune dreaded delivering it to Tsunade, but there was no way to avoid it.
Shizune entered the queen's chambers clandestinely, trying not to draw immediate attention.
"Shizune," barked Tsunade from her desk, barely sparing the younger woman a glance.
Shizune sighed and approached Tsunade, holding out the letter.
"Commander Hyuga sends news," began Shizune quietly as Tsunade received the letter.
The queen read it in a flurry, her expression darkening as she excelled through the many pages. Finally, she looked up, amber eyes narrow and inflicting.
"I want Itachi dead. Now."
Shizune exhaled, exasperated.
"Lady, please. Commander Hyuga only said that Itachi went north, and they did not pursue him."
Tsunade shook her head, absently grasping a bottle of mulled cider.
After she'd taken a swig, Tsunade said thoughtfully, "What was the last we heard of Sasuke Uchiha? It's been a while since our spies have reported anything, hasn't it?"
Shizune nodded.
"The last report we received, Sasuke was in the west."
Tsunade's frown deepened.
"How do we know that this isn't part of Itachi's master plan? Maybe Sasuke is his partner, gathering more recruits for the war. It would be just like Itachi to pull something dramatic by revealing his only living family member."
Shizune had no advice for her.
Tsunade irritably ran a hand through her hair.
"This is just what I need. Kakashi can't complain enough about the lack of soldiers he has, and he's losing more every battle. Jiraiya is biting my head off every second he can about the state of our finances. . . If this alliance with Sunagakure doesn't come through then we're all good as dead."
Shizune reached out and clasped Tsunade's shoulder.
"It will be okay, Lady. Sunagakure's royal family will come through. . . When do they travel to us?"
"They'll leave in a few weeks, but they'll stay at Fort Minato first. . . Speaking of which—send some correspondence back to Commander Hyuga. I neglected to tell him before he left that they would be coming to stay a few days. He'll need some time to make sure things are appropriate."
Shizune nodded.
"It will be done, Lady."
Tsunade looked up at her assistant.
"Shizune? What do you think Dan would have thought about all of this? I wish he were still here sometimes. . . He was such a comfort. . ."
Shizune bit her lip, bringing her departed uncle and Tsunade's lover to mind.
"I think he would understand that some things, like war, are inevitable in a world of humans," Shizune murmured, speaking slowly. "But he would not blame you, Lady. He would never blame you."
A flash of a smile appeared on Tsunade's mouth before she let it leave.
"Thank you, Shizune. But even I know the fault is mine. Credit should be given to me for all of this."
Shizune's words stuck in her throat. Tsunade waved her away, wishing to be left alone.
When Shizune shut the door behind her, Tsunade stood and walked to the window behind her desk.
The sun was setting in gold, oranges and reds playing on the city.
Tsunade smiled slightly and touched the glass pane.
"I'll fix it, Dan. I promise. You will be proud of me; I'll make sure of it," she muttered to the window and the city below. Finally, to assure herself, Tsunade whispered, "You will."
Well, I hope all of you have a lovely Thanksgiving. :)
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