Upon arriving to the village, the squad had seen the devastation firsthand. While some of them stopped and stared at the sight of destroyed buildings, piles of rubble, and craters scattered throughout the village, Higure wasted no time in moving forward.
The team had scattered when arriving to the village, trying to find Higure who they had lost track of already. Sakura, along with Zaku and Kurotsuchi, arrived to Sakura's house, finding it still mostly intact luckily. The door was left wide open, and Sakura walked inside just as her uncle came down the stairs.
"You can't keep running off like that," Sakura said, scolding her uncle.
"Sorry, I just had to check on some things." Sakura looked at Higure as he walked past her, and went for the door. For some reason, she felt as though her uncle was yet again hiding something from her. "I'm going to file the report of our mission in. You guys see what you can do in the meantime before we head out again." The Commander then shot off in a blur.
"I guess he just wanted to check on the house," Kurotsuchi said, looking at Sakura. "Maybe he was worried about traps or something?"
"Yeah, maybe..."
Filing through the reports and listings of all the places in Konohagakure was hit was the easy part during attacks on the village like this. In normal situations, when the village would be attacked, Danzo would simply have his scouts patrol every corner of the country until they found a trace, and then he would dispatch a team to eliminate the enemy entirely.
Many rogue clans and enemies of the village had either infiltrated or attack the village. However, due to the size of the Alliance and the excellency of the spies Danzo had rooted in many different countries, it was next to impossible for any enemy to catch Konoha off guard. Even shinobi from the Land of Keys, renowned for their espionage skills and their wealth of information gathered on each individual country, failed to successfully gather information on Konohagakure.
Danzo of course, never expected such a robust plan from the Land of Sky's leader Shinno. The reports Danzo received from the shoreline, after the first battle after arriving there, claimed that many shinobi from Kirigakure used a combination of the Hidden Mist Jutsu to cloud the Alliance's vision, and then bombarded the shoreline with long range attacks, mostly water style based. Hanzo and Hiruko acted quickly to ensure that any long range users could see clearly in case the Land of Sky's shinobi attempted to fly over them, as many anticipated. However, before any proper formations could be established, and while everyone was looking up, shinobi from both Kirigakure and the Land of Sky rushed the beach, assaulting Alliance troops in close quarters while sending barrages of water jutsus to keep them confused and busy. With everyone paying attention to the two types of enemies on the frontlines, everyone believed the Union's tactic was as simple as that.
Danzo never could have foreseen that the Land of Sky would have gathered a power he thought to be long destroyed by the Six Paths of Shinobi.
While in his musings, Danzo looked up as his office door opened and one of his Commanders, Higure, had walked into the room. "Glad to see you're back in one piece," Danzo greeted with a very careless tone. Higure simply stared at the old man as he walked further into the room. Danzo felt no anger or aggression from the Commander, which was a first.
"I want to know how this happened," Higure said as he stood in front of the Hokage's desk. Danzo simply stared at him before sliding the reports to Higure. The Commander read through the papers, his emerald eyes moving back and forth. "Puppets?"
"The Land of Sky's shinobi, as well as the Kirigakure shinobi were all merely puppets," Danzo stated, a hint of malice in his voice. "We lost twenty shinobi in that one assault, while they lost none."
"How did the Land of Sky manage to launch something this...large scale on their own," Higure asked, reading the reports again.
"I think you know very well who could control such an army of puppets. Remember, nearly sixteen years ago, in the Land of Wind?" Higure's eyes filled with realization before turning them up to Danzo. The Commander shook his head in disbelief before placing the documents back on the desk.
"There's no way...there's no way anyone could have used that chakra. We sealed it!"
"Yes, I remember very distinctively," Danzo stated as he tapped his fingers against the wood of his desk. "You also claimed to have killed Mukade, didn't you? But did you ever find the body?" Higure scowled, wanting to argue with the Hokage. However, he knew that the only, seemingly logical explanation pointed to the same thing that he and his team saw back in Roran. "An army of puppets, all styled and appearing as though they're actual human beings. That would take either every puppeteer in Sunagakure, which we have, or someone using the Ryumyaku, as you've seen firsthand."
Danzo then turned around, breaking open the shutters down on his windows with his fingers. As he stared out to his wrecked village, light beamed gently on his face. "The shinobi on the frontline believed that they were fighting our enemies in front of them, so they stopped looking up, allowing Shinno's forces to fly right over them without any problems." Higure ignored Danzo's explanation. He had already concluded that much on his own. Danzo lowered his hand and turned partway towards the Commander. "Tell me, if the Ryumyaku was truly sealed, how else could anyone control that many puppets?"
"I'm not sure," Higure admitted reluctantly.
The uncle of one remembered back sixteen years ago, when he and Minato fought side by side against Mukade while Kushina performed a sealing jutsu that would seal of the Ryumyaku for good. What no one on the team of six admitted to was that they also sealed the Ryumyaku so that the Alliance couldn't use it either. He trusted Kushina's sealing justus, as did everyone on the team, and Kushina swore that even she couldn't undo the seal she placed on the unlimited chakra source.
Whether or not Mukade survived was debatable, as Higure knew for a fact that there were many shinobi who had somehow made it out alive from worse fates, and fewer shinobi who tampered with immortality, such as Kakuzu, or certain worshipers of Jashin. Higure knew that even if the seal on the Ryumyaku was undone that the user would need to be in close proximity to use it effectively.
"Sasori has sent a scouting party to explore the remains of Roran to see whether or not your claims are true," Danzo stated as he turned again, his back facing Higure. The Chakra Leech looked up, coming out of his thoughts as he stared at the Kage before him. "And he also is going to find that nomadic group of Roran's last remaining followers."
Higure's temper flared as his eyes sharpened on Danzo, "You can't do that! They've already declared themselves a neutral party after we proved that Mukade was behind the attacks on Sunagakure! You can't just—,"
"Once Sasori's scouts find substantial evidence we'll have all the reason to take them into custody," Danzo stated confidently. The Hokage let out a belittling huff before turning to Higure again. "Do you believe there is another source of power that could allow someone the same capabilities as the Ryumyaku?"
"Sara's people have stayed out of the affairs of the Alliance, or any other country for decades now! Her people have safeguarded the Ryumyaku to ensure it didn't fall into the wrong hands, and I don't believe for a second you won't just fabricate evidence against her people!" Danzo's eye stared at Higure, cold and uncaring before he took his seat behind his desk.
Danzo had grown tired of the constant game he and Higure played every time they spoke. He would stroll in and get upset, barking like a pup with a toothache. Danzo had hoped with Higure being forced out of retirement via his niece's safety, and then kept in servitude with the Edo Tensei that the green eyed shinobi would be a little more obedient. The Hokage knew from the beginning that once the war was over, Higure's usefulness would expire. Danzo also knew that Higure was aware of this fact too. Danzo would have ridden himself of the man sooner if he had a valid reason, or a way to put the shinobi into a corner.
"What about Dark Chakra," Higure asked. Danzo's eye had snapped to attention at the mention of such an element. "Dark Chakra is just as potent as the Ryumyaku, if not more so. It could easily provide anyone enough power to manipulate an army of puppets."
"I'm going to need more proof than just a bluff..."
"Then create proof, like you always do." Danzo scoffed, dismissing the notion before using his hand to realign his papers on his desk. Higure looked down at the Hokage that ignored him before giving out a defeated sigh. "Do you at least know where the Land of Sky ninjas are at?"
"No. They broke off in different directions before the attack, heading every direction but back to the shorelines. My only guess is that they're going to attack Amegakure, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure as well."
"That's a suicide run. There's no way that anyone would be this stupid, or this arrogant, even with the bulk of all our forces divided." Danzo nodded as he closed the reports on the recent attack. Higure felt that Danzo was leaving something out, and waited for him to continue.
"It's a misdirection. The Land of Sky, during the Second Great War was too bold. When all the countries were battling each other, they came out and declared war on everyone. And as such, they were destroyed soundly. This time, they're clearly relying on misdirection to leave us confused and scrambling to defend ourselves after such an attack." Danzo pointed to the map of the Five Great Nations hanging on the wall, directing Higure's attention towards it.
"They'd head north, towards the sea," Higure realized. Danzo nodded as the Commander walked towards the map, pointing towards the sea above Konoha. "With allies in the Land of Water, it wouldn't be difficult for Kiri forces to cross through the Land of Lightning, set up an outpost or a camp in the sea, and then have the Land of Sky's forces move north to seek refuse and refuel before launching another attack."
"That's what we believe as well. Which is why I've dispatched a detachment of Kakashi's Division to investigate firsthand." Higure detected a bit of mistrust from Danzo, which was nothing unusual, though something was off about it. The Commander turned and stared questioningly at the Hokage.
"We could be sent to reinforce the detachment as well. We're about as close as they are." Danzo shook his head, pointing back to the map.
"You've been gone from your post for too long. They need you at the beach, and I need all available hands at their stations. The team I'm sending will confirm what we need to know, and then the Alliance leaders will act from there." Higure sighed and simply nodded his head, knowing that there was no point in arguing any further. He was already getting tired of talking to the Hokage. Danzo then decided to end the conversation, "You will file in your report of the mission in the Land of Demons, and then head back to the shores. Rin, Anko, and Kurotsuchi will be sent out to their respective Divisions back to battle the Raikage's forces."
"Fine." Higure stared at the map for a little longer, looking specifically at the sea next to the Mountains' Graveyard. Keeping his thoughts to himself, Higure turned and left the office to finish his report of the last mission, his thoughts on the attack, and worried for the people of Roran.
A thought flickered across Higure's mind. Depending on where the Akatsuki were stationed, it was highly possible for Naruto's team to cross through the warzone. While he knew that Akatsuki squad was capable, Higure knew that in a battle between two armies that they wouldn't survive the encounter.
Near the shores of the sea, a few hundred shinobi from the Land of Sky scattered around an open clearing surrounded by jagged rocks and small mountains for covering. Standing in the middle of the moving forces, Shinno stood with his arms crossed, watching intently as his forces prepared his trump card.
Trusting the ancient Uchiha was a gamble to begin with, but Shinno's recent breakthrough allowed him to continue his plans without having to rely on Madara whatsoever. With his newly developed trump card, he could easily destroy Konohagakure, the Alliance, and then Madara without any trouble.
Shinno was now unconcerned with the so called "Union" that he had founded, seeing as how his forces successfully duped Kisame's forces and slipped behind Alliance lines. Now the only thing that remained for Shinno was to prepare his ultimate weapon and take his rightful place as ruler of the world, high within the skies, above the land.
A scrawny man cloaked in almost noble robes approached from behind Shinno. "The Zero Tails is nearly ready Lord Shinno..."
"Excellent work Mukade," Shinno replied with a tone of indifference. The skinny man snickered as he stood next to his superior. Mukade was thin and almost sickly looking with dark brown, thinning hair that barely reached his shoulders.
"Honestly, I never dreamed that a country like the Land of Sky would have such immense resources."
"I've spent over a decade gathering information and power," Shinno explained as he turned. Mukade followed Shinno is suite, both of them staring out into the sea in front of them. "The information I've gathered, about the shinobi world, its history, its people, all of this has led to my acquisition of power. And with this power, I'll take my proper place in the world. With my boot through the head of the Hokage, my hand on Madara's throat, and the Alliance and Kage burning at my feet."
Mukade snickered noisily, with an annoying high pitch, "That would be quite the portrait for you as the new ruler of the world Shinno..." The leader of the Land of Sky turned and glared at Mukade. His look was one of disgust before Shinno looked back out to the sea.
"Just remember your place...and how I found you, Mukade." Shinno then turned around and walked away from his subordinate.
It was clear to Shinno that Mukade sought to take his entitlement from him. Shinno found Mukade several years ago, in a drunken ramble about how he was going to be king of Roran, but the Alliance robbed him of this. Shinno knew of what happened with Roran, and was the only one who knew Mukade was actually telling the truth. What interested Shinno the most about Mukade was how he controlled an entire city like Roran, with its Queen and populace unsuspecting, and how he controlled an army of puppets on his own. Such an ability proved to be as useful as Shinno believed, as Mukade used that technique to fool both the Alliance and the Union.
Shinno was no fool though. In order to use such a large scale jutsu, Mukade had to be pumped with Dark Chakra to increase his powers, which also partially caused such a sickly appearance. On top of that, Shinno had known during their early encounters that Mukade's place of power in Roran years ago had made the man ambitious, something which would likely be amplified by the effects of Dark Chakra.
But Mukade knew that he would have to wait for Shinno's plan to start before even considering the thought of betraying him. And even then, Shinno wasn't worried about Mukade, and until he outlived his usefulness, Mukade would live.
Kakashi's loyalty was never questioned when it came to the Alliance, or its leaders, though he questioned some of their choices from time to time. When he heard about sending out Higure, a Division Commander, out to a mission halfway across the globe, Kakashi questioned it. Now the Alliance leaders sent him, yet another Commander, out to investigate a lead about the possibility of the Land of Sky stopping somewhere north after the attack of Konogakure.
Forcing Kakashi to leave his post as Commander meant that there was only one Commander on the frontlines against two Divisions of the Land of Lightning's. While the bulk of Kakashi's Division still remained with Kitsuchi, the bulk of the Third Division were shinobi from Konohagakure, mostly with shinobi Kakashi knew of or worked with previously. The fact that Kitsuchi was now their leader for the time being meant that the forces fighting against Kumogakure was at a severe disadvantage.
His partner, Guy, shared his skepticism, but the duo as always followed orders obediently. Thankfully, both Guy and Kakashi had their prized pupils, Rock Lee and Sasuke Uchiha, with them on their scouting expedition, which meant the mission was going much faster. The mission, which many of the higher ups in the Alliance believed would take over a week, had only taken them a couple of days to get to the Land of Graves where Danzo believed the Land of Sky's forces to be hiding.
Leading the squad of four, Kakashi and Guy were side by side with each other, both of them wearing stern expressions on their faces. "I don't like this," Guy finally spoke.
Kakashi huffed as he bounced off another branch, "I know that much."
"Well how do they expect for us to look for the enemy in an entire country," Guy asked, looking to Kakashi for the answer. The masked Commander stayed quiet and stared forward. "Maybe Danzo knows more about the Land of the Sky than he wants to admit..."
Kakashi stopped immediately, prompting Guy, Sasuke, and Lee to stop as well. Kakashi turned to the two students with a glare, "Scout out this area. If you find anything report back. If not, then move on ahead and we'll catch up." Sasuke and Lee both nodded before jumping off to the right. Kakashi then looked over at Guy, crossing his arms. "Are you doubting the Hokage?"
"No Kakashi, I'm just stating that you and I both know that Danzo hides so much information from everyone." The masked Jonin stayed quiet, mentally agreeing with this. Despite his and Guy's vast differences, the two of them were the closest of comrades, and had shared many feelings of doubt in terms of Danzo himself. "I'm not stupid enough to say that Danzo is corrupt, I know the punishment for that is immediate death. But how does he figure the Land of Sky went north? Reports from the attack said they went west. How could they circle around and come this far north without any of our scouts or any other reports about enemy movement."
"So what, you think Danzo has a hand in with the Land of Sky, or that he's psychic?"
"I know this doesn't make any sense to you either Kakashi," Guy firmly stated. The masked Commander sighed and turned away from Guy. The taijutsu master knew he was right, and that his friend agreed with him. "It's just us out here...what's going through your head?"
Kakashi closed his eyes and lowered his head a bit. After a few seconds of silence he looked back at Guy. "I think being out here is an unnecessary risk for our forces trying to invade the Land of Lightning. It was bad enough sending out Higure to the Land of Demons, leaving the shoreline weaker than before, but on top of that before he even returns back home, they send me out to find the Land of Sky? Granted, dealing with the Land of Sky as a whole would be a huge step towards victory for the Alliance, but they can send a scouting party out. Sending a Commander for such a simple task doesn't make any sense...it doesn't sit well with me."
Guy nodded in understanding of Kakashi's assessment. The taijutsu master had been wondering and feeling the same thoughts as Kakashi since they left the Land of Hot Water.
Both Kakashi and Guy had always had lingering doubts and thoughts about the Alliance, and how they handled things. But, growing up under the regime of the Wrath of Fire, they feared of the repercussions if they ever spoke out against Danzo. So many skilled shinobi were needlessly slaughtered for simply doubting or voicing their beliefs against the Hokage. The only ones who could somehow escape such a fate were the legendary shinobi team, the Six Paths of Shinobi, which Kakashi's former sensei Minato Namikaze, was apart of.
The only reason Danzo didn't execute them was for the simple reason that killing six of the most skilled shinobi Konohagakure ever produced would have been a stupid move. Danzo and the countless others in the Alliance knew that if it wasn't for the Six Paths of the Shinobi, the Alliance may have very well lost the last War against Saizo Hideyoshi. Not only that, but rumors were, but never confirmed, that the specialized squad of six even killed the Third Mizukage in battle.
While Higure was the only living member of the team, he frequently spoke out against Danzo, though the Hokage could do nothing due to the fact that killing a retired war hero would reflect immensely poor on him. Not only that, but Higure's talents and abilities would, and have now, proven to be useful to the Alliance. And with Sakura, Higure was all too easy to manipulate at the hands of Danzo.
Kakashi and Guy, while they were skilled, powerful ninja, they both knew that it wouldn't be enough to save them if Danzo decided to dispose of them. So they would feign absolute loyalty, never showing Danzo any sign of doubt whatsoever, hoping that it was enough for the Hokage to believe they were loyal. Though the recent show of dispatching Kakashi on such a simple mission begged to question whether or not Kakashi was still disposable.
"Thinking this to death solves nothing though," Kakashi finally said. "The sooner we scout this country, the sooner we're done with this mission." Guy nodded before the two Jonin then moved forward.
While questions and doubts nagged at them, Kakashi and Guy both knew that they needed to focus on the task at hand, and that if the Land of Sky were in the Land of Graves that they would be easy to find, with any luck.
After coming back to the Land of Water, Madara was informed by Kisame of Shinno's betrayal. While Madara showed no concern for the matter, as he inadvertently achieved his end goal anyway, he pointed out that Shinno must be dealt with.
The masked man spent the rest of the day thinking on how he could end Shinno, but the problem was of course that he didn't know the man's plan. Shinno clearly wasn't as one dimensional in his plans as he seemed. Destroying Konoha was one of Shinno's goals, but it couldn't have ended here, not by a long shot. The problem was, Madara didn't know how severe the damage was to Konoha, if Shinno's forces even reached the village at all.
Standing in his laboratory, Madara looked over at the slumbering boy in the corner. The exact copy of Naruto Uzumaki, with a few darker features being the only key difference. Madara's eye gleamed as he took off his mask, placing it on the table in front of him. He walked over towards the clone and opened up Menma's eyes.
"Wake." The boy suddenly gasped to life, as though he had been drowning. Madara stepped back and raised his hood over his head while Menma fell to the floor, clinging to his neck while coughing and gasping for air. "How do you feel...?"
"Die...die," Menma gasped between coughs. Madara's right eye, his Sharingan, narrowed quizzically under his hood. Menma snapped his head up at the hooded man and stared. Silence hung between the two as they simply stared at each other. Madara had no genjutsu active, no malicious intents other than to study Menma when he was unchained. "M...Ma...Madara...?"
"That's right," the hooded man said with a nod of his head. "I am Madara Uchiha. And who are you?"
"N-Naruto U-Uzumaki..." Madara noted the doubt in Menma's tone, as if he were questioning if he was Naruto or not.
"That's wrong," Madara stated. Menma looked up in confusion, a look of hurt on his face. "Your name is Menma. You are a clone of Naruto Uzumaki, with the chakra of the Kyuubi, and the soul of Moryo. Do you sense any of these things inside of you?"
"N-no! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Menma stood up suddenly and clenched his fists. "I'm Naruto!"
Madara watched the boy with a mixture of pity and curiosity. When left to his own mindset, Menma apparently believed he was the real Naruto. Madara considered putting Menma under a genjutsu, but chose to test the boy.
"What makes you think you're Naruto Uzumaki?"
"I-I'm Naruto! There's only one me! And...and I'm from the Akatsuki and you...you're-,"
"That's where you're wrong," Madara stated, raising up his hand. "You're not apart of the Akatsuki. You are a product of cloning."
"I'M NARUTO!" Menma opened his hand up, creating a swirling ball of chakra, which took on a dark color. Madara's eye widened as his new pet charged him.
The hooded man quickly grabbed Menma's wrist, holding him in place. Menma used his free hand to attempt to punch Madara, though he grabbed the boy's fist as well. The two combatants glared at each other intensely with hatred in their eyes.
"You're going to learn the truth...Menma..." Before the dark haired boy could say anything, both he and Madara were swallowed up into Madara's alternate dimension.
As the day continued on, Kurotsuchi and Fu both sat on the same corner, facing opposite directions. They had been ordered to sit around, as the reconstruction of the destroyed portions of the village were already underway, and Danzo personally ordered that no outsiders of the village should be involved with rebuilding.
Both kunoichi were more than upset that they had to just sit around and wait before they could even head back to their respective Divisions. Worse than that, the girls had been given hardly any information concerning the attack, other than it was caused by the Land of Sky. Neither Fu nor Kurotsuchi were use to not being told information, due to their relationships with their respective village leaders.
Kurotsuchi sighed as she looked out into the street, seeing a Chunin instructing a group of kids, possibly Academy students. Kurotsuchi wondered if the kids were in fact students, or possibly kids who were helping with the reconstruction of the village. The Iwa kunoichi turned and looked over at her fellow outsider. Fu was sitting on a crate, staring off into space with a look Kurotsuchi couldn't quite peg.
Despite being on the same mission together, and often being stuck together, Kurotsuchi didn't like Fu. She had heard many stories about the Jinchuriki, most of them involving her sadistic behavior and power-hungry nature. Though Kurotsuchi did not see any of that nature from Fu while on their mission to the Land of Demons. In fact, Kurotsuchi saw a kunoichi who was willing to fight for the completion of her mission. Despite Fu's rather stubborn nature, causing the state that Kurotsuchi and Rin found her in, the Iwa ninja couldn't seem to find any of the negative traits that circle Fu.
'Maybe she's just misunderstood. I mean, you did go out of your way to become friends with the daughter of the guy who was famous for wiping out nearly an entire Iwagakure platoon...' Kurotsuchi looked back ahead and saw the Chunin walk off with the kids he was speaking too. The Iwa girl sighed softly and turned back a little ways towards Fu. "It must be hard for them...come home, mission complete, to this..."
"Yeah," Fu stated. Kurotsuchi noted the girl's indifferent tone, but felt something deeper.
"I know if Iwagakure got attacked like this, I'd set out immediately to the bastards who did it..."
"Iwagakure is way too far west for the Land of Sky to reach you all," Fu pointed out. The Jinchuriki leaned forward, putting the back of her hand under her chin. "The Hokage will likely find the Land of Sky forces before they could even reach the Land of Earth." Kurotsuchi nodded, realizing that Fu's statement carried a lot of truth.
"I just keep looking around...thinking what if it was Iwagakure," Kurotsuchi murmured softly.
Fu's eyes dropped a bit, picking up that her fellow kunoichi was fishing for something.
"The dead civilians...destroyed homes, and lives..."
"That's war unfortunately." Kurotsuchi turned to Fu again. Despite the slight age difference, Fu couldn't have been more than a year older than Kurotsuchi.
"Have you been in many wars?" Fu huffed and turned her head further away from Kurotsuchi.
"I've seen...a lot of things. War isn't really anything new, except a larger scale..."
"You've also seen your village invaded, and destroyed."
Fu blinked in confusion. The Jinchuriki glanced at Kurotsuchi, who had just turned her head away, staring out ahead.
"Takigakure I mean..."
Fu's face grew sour before she scoffed, "That village wasn't my home..."
"I know...you grew up in Amegakure, raised by Hanzo. But still, that was where you were born, no matter where you grew up." Fu rolled her eyes and slouched forward again. Kurotsuchi leaned back and crossed her legs, looking up in the sky. "It's the same concept, almost, as being apart of the Alliance. Me, I'm Kurotsuchi of the Alliance, and apart of the Second Division. But before all that, before even being a member of the Alliance, I'm Kurotsuchi of Iwagakure."
"That's the dumbest comparison..."
"It's basically saying that no matter what you're apart of, what village you end up joining, or what organization you end up joining, your roots say something about you." Kurotsuchi then leaned forward and turned to Fu, who kept her head away. The Iwa kunoichi sighed, staring at the Jinchuriki. "I know you may not like to admit it, but something about the war against Takigakure changed you. I don't know if it was problems with the Alliance due to the soldiers lost, or if it was something deeper, but you can't tell me seeing the first place you called home destroyed didn't affect you."
"I don't need you to psycho analyze me, and I don't need you to pretend to be my friend. So butt out."
Though the normally hot-headed Kurotsuchi would give back an angry response, she knew that if it were her in Fu's position, she would likely have responded the same way. The young Iwagakure kunoichi remained silent, intending not to bother her temporary partner any further.
As nightfall came, Kakashi, Guy, Sasuke, and Rock Lee all set up camp in a small cave. The squad had spent the entire day scouting the countryside, but found no sign of the Land of Sky. Finding such a large group would normally be child's play, but as their enemies were flying through the sky there were no leads or trails to follow. They were all moving through this country blind, with no idea of where they were to be looking.
The group started setting up a temporary camp, as the two veterans of the group knew there was no point in scouting through unknown territory while fatigued. Sasuke and Kakashi kept the first watch while Lee and Guy 'rested.' Of course, the two 'youth' invigorated shinobi spent their time pushing themselves to their physical limits, despite Kakashi's suggestion that they take the time to rest their minds and bodies.
Kakashi leaned his shoulder against the base of the tree, arms crossed as he looked out into the full white moon, its pale light shining over the empty wasteland on the rim of the woods. Standing below him was Sasuke, staring out to the edge of the woods.
It had been obvious that Sasuke had been even more dark and brooding than his usual self after the mission to assassinate the Tsuchikage. Though nothing out of the ordinary happened to Sasuke, minus being attacked by one of the five Kage, Kakashi took an educated as to what put the Uchiha boy in such a foul mood.
Sasuke had always believed he was top dog amongst his age class,which would have been true during graduation. However, after a couple of years of training with Anko, one of Orochimaru's first students and test subjects. It was only natural that Zaku Abumi and Dosu Kinuta would have been assigned to Anko's team in order to bring out their potential from Orochimaru's early, half-baked, and unfinished experiments. Their power and worth was truly shown during the Chunin Exams, and during the assassination of Onoki.
That was likely the wake up call Sasuke went through, realizing he wasn't the top dog anymore. Kakashi was rather surprised that Sasuke didn't ask him for more training. Not that the Jonin could give him any extra training, due to all the preparations for war. Though such responsibilities hadn't stopped Sasuke's usual bossy requests before.
Though it had been something of a relief not to have to tend to all of Sasuke's requests, Kakashi found it even more puzzling that the Uchiha had not made any such requests.
For the time being though, Kakashi enjoyed the silence and serenity of the moment in the forest.
But only for a moment before the snapping of a twig was heard.
All eyes turned in the general direction as a group of three shinobi rushed out of the the woodwork. The Konoha shinobi all chased after them, Guy and Lee chasing behind them on the ground, while Kakashi and Sasuke followed the gang from above.
One quick glance at the fleeing group, and Kakashi noticed that they were in fact shinobi from the Land of Sky. This confirmed Danzo's suspicions, which means that Kakashi and his group would be in the Land of Graves for awhile.
Once coming out of the woods, the four Alliance shinobi came upon a large group of Sky shinobi, outnumbering the entire team nearly five to one. Kakashi, Sasuke, Guy, and Lee all stopped in place, catching the entire attention of every single enemy shinobi before them.
"Well...crap," Kakashi muttered to himself as the entire enemy force charged him and his team.
Sasori sighed with annoyance as he walked through the tunnels below his palace, flanked by two of his village's ANBU agents. The Kazekage had grown upset by the lack of information his men had retrieved from the ruins of Roran. Thankfully his spies captured the current "Queen" of Roran and her daughter. His top interrogators had been at work for hours, but without so much as gaining a single word from the self proclaimed Queen.
Sasori rounded a corner and was met with a slightly startled Kabuto, "M-my lord, I didn't expect to see you down here."
"Has there been any word out of her?"
Kabuto hesitated, looking almost nervous. Sasori narrowed his eyes before pushing his assistant out of the way, heading for the door to Sara's cell.
As he opened the door, he saw a middle aged, red haired woman sitting casually at the opposite end of a dark, damp room. The only thing separating the Kazekage and the Queen of Roran was a simple metal table.
Sasori stared down at Sara with a look of disgust and impatience, while the Queen herself had the exact opposite demeanor. Despite the Kazekage's feared and terrible reputation, Sara herself seemed at ease, as though she was not afraid of the man before her.
Sasori found the Queen's lack of emotion to be annoying before he took a seat across from her. "Do you enjoy your accommodations?"
Sara shrugged casually, looking down and to the side, "I've had worse surroundings to be sure." The Queen looked up at Sasori, tilting her head a bit. "You haven't aged a bit since I last saw you Sasori."
"And you've gained a few wrinkles since I last saw you." Sasori cracked a smirk, resting the side of his face against his fist. "What's the matter? The pressures of ruling a kingdom betting to be a little too much?"
"Cute," Sara replied, knowing Sasori's comment was meant to injure her pride. The Kazekage's remark did very little to do so however. "How do you plan to explain my abduction to the Daimyo?"
Sasori's smirk vanished as his eyes focused on the Queen before him. The Kazekage knew that since the fall of their city, the nomads of Roran had no form of self defense, and as such, Sara used her ties to the Daimyo to ensure their security. In doing so, Sara remained nearly untouchable from Sasori, or the Alliance's, grasp for quite some time.
"I'm sure once we have enough evidence against you, the Daimyo will have no issues putting you in shackles?"
Sara laughed condescendingly, scowling at Sasori, "Proof of what? My people and I have remained out of any business involving the Alliance, or this so called Union. More so than I can say for your grandmother."
Sasori's eyes flickered ever so slightly at this. Chiyo had a way of getting under anyone's skin, and the Queen of Roran was no exception. However, Sasori wondered how exactly Sara knew of such information as Chiyo's betrayal. While he intended fully to frame Sara if he could not find any information about her involvement with the Union, Sasori believed completely that Sara was completely neutral. However, the Alliance and Sasori needed a scapegoat to reassure the populace, and whatever foes hid in the cracks of society, that the Alliance left no stone unturned.
"Proof that you have aided the Union with the Ryumyaku." Sara's eyes widened in alarm at this. Sasori knew how to read human reactions well enough to see that Sara's reaction was genuine. "We recently encountered a style of puppetry on the shores out east, a style that involved using massive numbers of puppets to make our forces believe that the Land of Sky's forces were on the ground, when in reality they slipped right above us."
"Then that's your own soldier's incompetence," Sara snapped back, her face twisting in anger. "I know what you're getting at, and Mukade is dead, and has been for over fifteen years! Plus, Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze used a seal over the Ryumyaku to ensure that even I couldn't break the seal if I wanted to!" Sara leaned back in her chair, glaring daggers at the Kazekage. "Perhaps you should reevaluate your own Alliance, and its security. From what I've heard, the Honored Siblings and the Third Tsuchikage were both accused of treason against the Alliance. How many more traitors do you have within your Alliance?"
Sasori simply kept his eyes glued to the Queen of Roran. She had a very valid point, and Sasori knew it. The Alliance leaders had their own goals and ambitions, even that some others did not know. Sasori's close relationship with Orochimaru for example was something well known within the Alliance. However, the fact that Sasori and Orochimaru both planned to seize the helm of the Alliance leadership for themselves was something only known to the duo, and their closest associates. The new Tsuchikage, Mao, seemed to be a bit of a wild card though, as he seemed to intentionally agitate Danzo, though showed no specific signs of treachery.
However, Sasori had no intentions of revealing his goals to Sara.
"Our organization is none of your concern. Your trial is however."
"If you've been to Roran, then you know the seal can't be undone by normal means." Sara leaned forward, resting her arms on the table as she explained, "Only I, the Queen of Roran, have the capabilities to undo the base seal on the Ryumyaku. On top of that, Kushina Uzumaki, a kunoichi specialized in sealing ninjutsu, from a Clan that was famous for sealing ninjutsu, placed a high level seal over the base seal. I'm not a ninja, and thus, I have no knowledge of sealing ninjutsu. On top of Kushina's seal, Minato Namikaze placed his own seal over that. While not as complex as Kushina's, it was a high level seal that would still take a high level shinobi with an intricate knowledge of sealing ninjutsu to undo that."
Sasori's eyes drifted a bit as a thought entered his mind. Sara noticed this, realizing that the Kazekage's attention seemed to be pulled away by something. Sasori moved his eyes back to Sara and then stood up, pushing his chair in.
"Try not to go anywhere," Sasori said coyly before heading for the door. Sara glared daggers at the Kazekage's back as he left the room.
Outside, Kabuto watched his master pass by without a word. "Lord Sasori? Did you find out anything?" The redheaded Kage said nothing as he continued down the hall, heading for his chambers.
Once inside of his secret, personal chambers, Sasori locked the door and headed towards the back of the room. Inside the room were various pieces of puppets, traps, weapons, and even body parts lying about. None of it phased the Kazekage as he reached a opening in the room, seemingly untouched by the 'workshop' that filled the rest of the room.
Sasori placed his hand on a podium in front of him, bringing up a holographic image. The figure turned around, a pair of golden, pupil-slit snake eyes glinted at him.
"Well, this is a surprise..."
"Orochimaru...I believe I've stumbled upon something that could benefit our cause greatly..."
Spending a day back home is what Sakura would have always wanted during her weeks spent out on the shores, setting up defenses, barracks, and fighting for her life. However, seeing Konohagakure in the state that it was end was hardly what the kunoichi had in mind.
Her uncle, as vague and aloof to any sort of problem as always, focused on cleaning their house, and helping a few of the people in their neighborhood. While it was a nice gesture, Sakura knew it was blatantly obvious that he was avoiding her. And with each minute he spent doing so only infuriated her more.
They even slept in the same house that first night, and somehow Higure managed to completely avoid Sakura like the plague. And of course, first thing in the morning, he was gone to help others in his crusade to fix every building and avoid talking to his niece about issues that needed to be discussed.
While roaming the village, Sakura was joined by her teammates, Zaku and Dosu, "Heya champ!"
"Hey Zaku," Sakura replied in a distant murmur. The kunoichi walked by her teammates, still trying to keep an eye out for her uncle.
Zaku sighed and shook his head while Dosu turned to look at the pinkette, "Still looking for the old man?"
"Have you seen him," Sakura asked, turning to Dosu. The masked boy nodded and then moved towards the other street. Sakura and Zaku both started following him.
"So what's the big deal anyway," Zaku questioned, his hands behind his head. "I thought we'd be able to be sent back to the shores already."
"Be grateful you get some down time," Dosu replied. "I'm sure there are a lot of others on those shores who wish that they could be here instead..." Zaku and Sakura were both silent towards this comment.
While Sakura was genuinely more grateful to be in the village rather than the frontlines, Zaku had overlooked that fact. Sakura knew that Zaku meant well with his comment, being more adamant about fighting the enemy rather than taking for granted that he was home. Sakura herself hoped that they could stay at least another day before heading out, but that was unlikely due to Higure being Commander of the First Division.
"I saw him down this street last," Dosu said as the trio rounded a corner.
As soon as they did, the group saw a squad of four ANBU, all standing around Higure, who was bound in handcuffs.
Sakura's eyes nearly popped out of her head before she ran towards the scene, "Higure! What's going on?"
The ANBU all turned their attention towards Sakura, as her uncle sighed heavily. One ANBU stepped between the two family members, grasping his sword with one hand, "That's far enough."
"What's going on here? Why is my uncle being arrested?!"
"That's classified information," the ANBU replied. "For now, he's under civil arrest, and his release will depend upon further investigation. That's all you need to know."
"He's my uncle! He's my only living family damn it, I deserve to know!"
"Sakura, just go home," Higure said, his tone oddly calm. Sakura looked at her uncle, almost outraged at the suggestion. Higure looked at the pinkette, giving her a knowing, assuring look in his eyes. "Go home. This will all get sorted out, alright?"
Sakura hesitated for a moment, nodding softly before slowly stepping backwards. The ANBU took his hand off of his sword as Sakura stepped away and turned to his fellow shinobi. "Let's get a move on."
The squad of four, plus their prisoner, moved on down an alleyway as Sakura watched helplessly. Zaku and Dosu then quickly ran up to their partner's side.
"Are you alright," Zaku asked worriedly. "I thought you were gonna snap or something."
"I've gotta go," Sakura stated suddenly, running off.
"W-wait, what?!" Dosu placed his hand on Zaku's shoulder, keeping his friend in place.
"Calm down," Dosu said as Sakura ran off back to her house. "She's heading in the opposite direction. Sakura knows that if she wanted to track ANBU that she shouldn't waste her time trying to trick us."
"So what's she doing then," Zaku questioned before turning to his partner. "What if she gets depressed or something?"
Dosu shook his head and turned to the direction the ANBU went off towards, "Did you even look at her? Did she really look like she was giving up?" Dosu jumped up onto the nearest rooftop, and Zaku expectantly followed him. "I know you're going to ask what we should do to help, and I'll tell you to stay out of it, but you're just as stubborn as she is. So we're going to tail em, see if they take Higure anywhere special." Zaku nodded dumbly as he followed Dosu's lead.
Zaku wondered briefly if he was that predictable, before becoming more worried at the thought of tailing ANBU Black Ops.
Sakura practically broke the front door of her house off its hinges before she raced upstairs. She knew her uncle gave her some sort of clue, and it would either be in his bedroom, or up in the attic. Either way, Sakura knew that Higure wouldn't just leave her with nothing to go off of.
Though it was a subtle hint, the way Higure told Sakura to go home was a definite give away.
Before she even realized it, Sakura was in her uncle's room. Lying very clearly on his bed was a small booklet, almost like a journal. When she opened it, Sakura skimmed the pages, and was a little shocked to see that the the first few pages of the journal were dated over twenty years ago.
Her heart stopped for a moment. Sakura realized that she had, in her hands, a full biography documented by Higure himself. The temptation was staggering for the young woman, who was essentially a stranger to the events happening in her own life. Her family's relationship with Naruto, the Akatsuki, Madara's threat, and her uncle's past, these were all prominent problems that she knew nothing about. Some of these factors were even risking her life, and yet she couldn't find out a single damn clue.
Sakura stared at the open journal, her eyes reading the writing on reflex, absorbing some tedious information about Higure's first A-rank mission as a Chunin. She flipped through the pages, stopping every so often to skim through some words to see if she could find anything about Naruto's parents, Madara, or anything.
All the secrets he had been hiding for so long that were coming up now, all the unanswered questions Sakura asked, and more than likely even information about her parents, were all within the palm of her hands.
Higure was seated in the all too familiar interrogation chamber where Danzo stood across from him. The Hokage's upper half was completely enshrouded in darkness, giving him a sense of mystery to anyone in the room except the Commander on trial.
"So...care to explain why I'm being accused of aiding the enemy?"
"It had been brought to my attention that you were close friends with Kushina Uzumaki, and Minato Namikaze." Danzo turned around, stepping into the light. In a quite astonishing revelation, Higure saw the right side of Danzo's face wasn't covered in bandages, and his eye simply remained closed. The Commander shuddered a bit, having heard many theories and suspicions of what lied under Danzo's bandages. "Wouldn't it have been possible for you to undo Minato and Kushina's seals, allowing Sara, the Queen of Roran, to open the Ryumyaku for Mukade."
Higure closed his eyes and sighed heavily. He knew how unlikely it was for Danzo to actually believe such an idea, but Higure knew that the Hokage had to make examples that nothing was beyond the Alliance's abilities.
"I haven't been to the Land of Wind in years, Danzo. Even heading to the Land of Demons, I went through the Land of Earth, several hundred miles away from the ruins of Roran."
"You have a habit of leaving your post," Danzo replied.
"I was leaving my post without revealing it to anyone, traveling at least a day long trip to undo the seals that Minato and Kushina, the latter of which was better at sealing ninjutsus than me, all so Sara could undo the Ryumyaku to kill soldiers I'm leading on the battlefield." Danzo's open eye narrowed, confirming Higure's belief that the Hokage knew this was a ludicrous as it sounded. Higure leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as he simply stared at Danzo. "Are you done yet? I know you wouldn't force me out of retirement just to kill me later."
Danzo sat up straight, walking over towards a table that was attached to the wall. His upper body was once again concealed in shadows. Danzo grabbed something with his right hand and placed it over his face. Higure narrowed his eyes a bit in confusion, wondering what it was the Hokage put on.
"Right now, our confusion makes us look weak. If we can deduce the reasoning for how the Land of Sky's forces commanded an army of puppets, we seem intelligent." Danzo's head nodded in the darkness, barely visible to Higure. A pair of ANBU stepped forward and held Higure down in his chair, much to the Commander's shock as he tried resisting.
"Wh-what the hell are you doing?!"
"If we can point out that the Land of Sky's power was the cause of a traitor, we seem powerful in being able to weed out traitors with ease..." Higure continued to struggle, but felt his strength slowly being sucked out of him. The Commander knew that either one or both of the ANBU holding him had the ability to suck chakra, and physical strength, from their opponents. "If we can identify that traitor...and bring him to justice..." Danzo stepped out of the light, revealing a piece of light armor over the right half of his face, covering his eye. The metal plate had the designs painted on it to look like a pair of razor sharp, yellow teeth around a gaping, black maw.
Higure recognized the design as the very signature Saizo Hideyoshi used on his mask to instill fear, and incarnate his alias of 'The Demon of Kirigakure,' to the fullest.
"Then we seem unstoppable..." Danzo stepped forward, a serrated knife in his hand. The two ANBU shoved Higure's face into the table, on hand held directly on the back of his head. Higure struggled again against his captor's firm grasp. He only managed to roll his head around, looking at a blank wall as Danzo stood out of his sight. "How easy it would be to simply put you permanently under my control...I could do that...with Shisui Uchiha's eye..." Higure gasped at that name. Shisui's reputation was well known around the world, both for his genjutsu and his ability of the Body Flicker technique. The fact that Danzo apparently had the boy's eye confirmed one of the theories behind Danzo's 'missing' right eye. "However...it would also be simple to control you through the Edo Tensei...wouldn't it?"
"Y-you really trust Orochimaru that much," Higure asked through his teeth. The ANBU that held Higure's head down pulled back on the man's long hair and slammed him face-first into the table again. The Commander cried out in pain at this, but continued to glare angrily at his restrainers.
"I don't, no," Danzo admitted. "However, with you out of the way, I could have five of my Six Paths of the Shinobi once again...and I could use the Kotoamatsukami to make Orochimaru as loyal as he seems." Higure's head was then lifted up again, and was forced to turn directly to Danzo. Higure couldn't pry his eyes off of the metal plate over Danzo's eye. He had horrid memories of that design on Saizo's face, and a few near-death experiences related to it.
Danzo showed Higure the serrated knife again before he clutched it tightly. He raised the knife up and stabbed downward. Higure closed his eyes tightly, but was met with a forceful, sudden pain in his forehead.
The Commander opened his eyes and saw the knife sticking into the metal of his forehead protector. Danzo slowly dragged the knife across the symbol of Konohagakure, etched into the metal. The Hokage then pulled the headband off of Higure's head and dropped it on the table.
Higure, confused by what this accomplished, looked over at Danzo. The Hokage nodded and Higure was forced down onto the table again as Danzo calmly strolled to the other end.
"Sasori was the one who pointed this revelation out to me...that's when I began planning." Danzo stabbed the knife into the table, right in front of Higure's face. "I know Sasori and Orochimaru are partners, likely planning to overthrow me, and all I have built. Orochimaru believes that he'll become Hokage, and he likely will if I ever die." Danzo turned to Higure briefly before looking forward as he stopped at Higure's left side, where his head was facing. "I have a deceivingly long life ahead of me. And I intend to live to see this Alliance I have forged rules this world."
"And you sit atop as the high and mighty leader?! Tell me again how you intend to live that long old man!"
"I need not explain anything to a traitor..."
Higure growled angrily, his eyes widening as his face turned red with strain as he started to push himself up, against the strength of the two ANBU agents. After managing to get off the table about a foot, Higure glare directly at Danzo, practically spitting venom at the Hokage as he spoke, "Traitor against what?! I've done every damn thing you've ordered me to do! I've committed deeds that I would label, that you would label other people, as monsters! All on your orders Danzo!" The Hokage stared at empty space, ignoring Higure's angered words. "And do you wanna know why I followed everything you said?! Why I followed orders so dutifully?!"
"To protect those you care for, like your pathetic niece and your friends," Danzo stated with a dull, uninterested tone.
"NO! I did it...because I wanted to save this village!"
"Konohagakure is thriving, prosperous, and is the strongest village in the world." Danzo slowly turned his head to Higure, glaring at him with the same intensity that the restrained Commander had. "It doesn't need yours, or Akatsuki's 'saving' you trash."
"It does need saving! It needs to be saved from you and your trash, Danzo!" Higure fought against and shrugged off the two ANBU behind him, despite his muscles having almost no strength in them anymore. Sweat poured down Higure's reddened face as he panted lightly. "Hashirama Senju did not create this village for you to play king!"
Danzo's eye flared with anger before he grabbed the knife in the table. Before Danzo could take a single step, Higure kicked the table up at the Hokage, knocking him over and shocking the two ANBU.
Higure slammed his head into one of the ANBU shinobi with enough force to shatter his mask, freeing his left hand. Higure quickly grabbed a dagger hidden in the ANBU's jacket and stabbed the other in the neck. Higure quickly pulled the knife out and swung at Danzo, who was already back up and made a slashing motion at the Commander.
The two blades clashed, though Higure's was cut straight through due to Danzo's wind chakra. Higure dodged Danzo's next attack and threw the cut blade at the Hokage. With a single, swift move, Danzo cut the blade in two once again as Higure slipped out of the door. Danzo quickly took pursuit.
As Higure rounded a corner, he shot past two ANBU, but stole a kunai from one of them without their knowing. The Commander saw another ANBU cutting him off at the end of the hall. The now rogue threw the kunai at the armed ANBU and jumped into the air. The shinobi swiped the kunai out of the air with his sword, and then Higure brought his foot through the man's face, shattering his mask and knocking him unconscious.
Higure knocked the man's sword up into the air and snatched it without missing a beat as he continued through the halls. Running low on chakra thanks to his two restrainers, he knew that he had no chance of taking on Danzo or the ANBU in a frontal confrontation. Higure knew that he had a low chance of survival just running away from them.
As Higure came towards another corner, a Root agent wielding a rather large ax came around and swung the mighty blade. Higure barely ducked under the strike and swiftly slashed in an upward motion across the Root shinobi's chest, causing blood to fly across the walls and for the man to fall to the floor as Higure continued onward.
'This damn place is a freaking maze...'
Higure suddenly froze in place, feeling no more control over his body as it went entirely stiff and numb. His green eyes went down to any part of his body he could see, noticing a dark seal forming all over him. Higure remembered the seal as Danzo's specialized sealing ninjutsu for his Root agents usually.
'Wh-when the hell did he...' Higure remembered back to when Danzo pulled his headband off. He guessed that Danzo placed the seal on him at that moment.
Higure saw an ANBU land in front of him and charge with his sword drawn. "Stop!" The shinobi then paused, sheathing his blade as he stopped right in front of a paralyzed Higure. Danzo walked around him, staring the angered man right in the eye. "We'll teach him some proper respect before ending his miserable life..."
"Yes my lord."
"Be at peace...soon, your responsibilities to the dead, and to your niece won't be a problem anymore."
Higure then bitterly spat at Danzo's face, gaining an angered snarl from the Hokage. "You're a sad little man of a sad little hill Danzo..."
"And I'll be sure that you're buried under my hill, so that you'll always be below foot, where you belong dog." Danzo nodded to his ANBU and Root agents that had filled the hall. Four of them walked towards Higure, restraining his hands behind his back and his ankles so he couldn't run.
Higure and Danzo gave one another one final, parting glare before the prisoner was taken away. Danzo headed towards the opposite direction, to the exit. "Make sure that you capture the little Haruno girl as well. She may be of some use."
"Yes my lord," the rest of the ANBU replied before running on ahead.
Danzo continued to walk, his mind planning for the future developments and changes of the Alliance.
Dosu and Zaku, having lost the ANBU some time ago, decided to walk back towards Sakura's house. "I've never seen that happen before. I mean, we were just following them, in the middle of the day, then POOF! They're gone."
"They're ANBU for a reason," Dosu stated with a slightly annoyed tone. He wasn't looking forward to telling Sakura about how they lost track of her uncle in broad daylight.
As they looked ahead, down the street that the Haruno family lived on, they saw a very long line of plastic tape forming a perimeter around it. Dosu quickly grabbed Zaku and pulled him towards the alleyway, slapping his hand over Zaku's mouth to keep him quiet.
"Shut up," Dosu hissed. As soon as Zaku stopped struggling, and only gave an annoyed growl of acknowledgment, Dosu removed his hand and looked out down the street, seeing a few ANBU searching the house, while regular Chunin stood watch along the perimeter. "ANBU are searching the house...whatever is going on with Higure involves Sakura, and that means it's a lot bigger than we predicted..."
Dosu's head perked up a bit, hearing a slight rustling. The boy quickly spun around, his sleeve flying up his Melody Arm, only for it to be caught by an opened palm. The cloaked figure then quickly slapped a sealing tag on Dosu's shoulder, causing a powerful numbing sensation to course through his arm, preventing him from using the capabilities of the device. Dosu groaned a bit before the hooded figure raised up his head, revealing a snarling wolf mask.
Dosu took one look behind the man, seeing Zaku effortlessly restrained by another cloaked ANBU agent. The Chunin knew that whatever was going on, he and Zaku were now thrown in the middle of it.
"Sakura Haruno's teammates have been captured," the wolf-masked ANBU said, pressing his free hand against a headset under his hood. "Advise."
Dosu narrowed his eyes, using his acute hearing to barely make out the noise over the headset. The masked boy managed to hear that they were looking for Sakura, as the voice on the headset ordered to get the information needed out of the duo. Dosu could draw the distinctive line that they were looking for Sakura.
"You're coming with us," the wolf-masked man said as he pulled Dosu up.
Both Dosu and Zaku fought against the two ANBU, but they were both severely outclassed and losing chakra thanks to the tags placed on them. The cloaked agents then decided to knock the two teens out cold before tossing them over their shoulders and heading back to headquarters.
Later that day, news of the investigation of the Haruno household had spread all over the village. Somehow, word had been leaked that Higure was a traitor, or a rumor started due to his rocky status as a member of Konoha.
Just as quickly as the rumors and theories started to fly, Danzo called the village together for an announcement addressed towards the village. Everyone had been gathered in front of the Hokage's mansion, where the one-eyed old man stood atop the roof.
Danzo looked out over the masses, specifically towards his men stationed along key points inside and outside the crowd. His large scale genjutsu was a common tradition he used when making announcements to the masses, usually to get the populace to agree with him. He used the same method to ensure most people agreed with the uses of the Edo Tensei, though a few more strong willed, or experienced shinobi were able to easily shrug off the subtle effects.
This time, the Hokage made an almost equally as controversial move for his people.
"People of Konohagakure, I bring you dark news indeed. As you all remember, our village was attacked by forces that should have been held at the shores of the Land of Fire. Our forces were fooled, believing themselves to be battling real shinobi, when in fact they were fighting against puppets." A few murmurs could be heard amongst the crowd. Danzo predicted that many people would believe the Land of Wind to be aiding the Union somehow, despite the fact they were on opposite sides of the world. Danzo reassured himself that this was the reason the sheep needed his guidance, for they were ignorant children bumbling around the world.
"Some of you may remember the city of Roran, in the Land of Wind, and its Puppet Security Force. Hundreds if not thousands of puppets manipulated by one man: Mukade, Roran's top advisor! Roran was laid to waste thanks to the efforts of Konoha, but Mukade survived. That's how our forces were duped by the Land of Sky, with Mukade's prowess of puppetry jutsu!"
Danzo gave the subtle signal, finishing his sentence with an outward swing of his arm, and held it out to the side for three seconds before letting it drop. His Root agents then activated the large scale genjutsu, putting the civilians and domestic shinobi under its affects. Now they all hung on the Hokage's every word.
"Mukade's large scale puppetry ninjutsu came from a foreign power known as the Ryumyaku, which could only be opened by the Queen of Roran as a genetic ability! After the last encounter in Roran, two of the Six Paths of Shinobi put their seals over the Ryumyaku on top of the Queen's seal, ensuring that it could never be used again. We have discovered that the Ryumyaku has been activated again, and Mukade is indeed using it to fuel his puppetry again!
"The seals on the Ryumyaku were undone by a traitor! One of our own I'm afraid. Higure Haruno, a member of the Six Paths of Shinobi, and a master of sealing ninjutsu undid the seal, allowing the Queen of Roran and Mukade to use the power of the Ryumyaku for their own evil purposes!" The crowd then fired up, booing and demanding the death of their traitor and for the Queen of Roran. Danzo smirked, knowing that the common rabble were so easily manipulated.
"We have captured the traitor," the crowd cheered at this knowledge, "and we're interrogating him to see who he is working for. We believe Haruno is actually a spy for the rogue organization that infiltrated and shamed our village: the Akatsuki!" The crowd started booing and shouting again, remembering the band of rogues and deserters. "We are tracking Higure's niece, Sakura Haruno, believing that she also has ties with the Akatsuki, and personally to our village's missing Jinchuriki!"
Sakura quickly shot through the bushes, miles away from the border of the Land of Fire. She was tracked by a squad of ANBU, and cursed herself for not leaving sooner. Panting heavily, she fled with the skilled, experienced killers right on her tail as she ran through twigs and brush.
"Alas, she has eluded us, though we hunt for her nevertheless," Danzo proclaimed loudly. "Let this be an example to any who would attempt to betray us! Konohagakure has defeated the Land of Keys, the Land of Woods, the Land of Demons, and the Land of Sky! We have bested the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, the Land of Water, and the Land of Lightning! We have forged a powerful Alliance in an attempt to change the world, to make it a better place!"
Sakura jumped into the trees, subtly placing an explosive tag on a tree branch. One ANBU landed on the branch, right under the explosive tag, causing it to detonate. The ANBU cried out, his entire lower half being engulfed in fire and smoke as he fell down to the ground.
The rest of the squad paid no attention as they pursued their target tirelessly.
"There is nowhere any traitor or spy can hide, nowhere you can run where we won't find you." The crowd's cheering had become constant background noise, praising the Hokage and his self-forged Alliance. "We will defeat this Union that opposes us, we will find the Akatsuki and crush them like the bugs they are, we will liberate this world from the tyranny of shinobi, and all will be united in one Alliance!"
The crowd's roars filled the village, chanting Danzo's name continuously. The Hokage smiled, rejoicing in his people's happiness and praise. Danzo then held up his hand, silencing the crowd.
"With the First Division now lacking a Commander, I have decided to take up arms against our enemies personally. I will spearhead our assault against the Land of Water, and the Land of Lightning, crushing our enemies in one fell swoop! I will bring the Wrath of Fire to our enemies, PERSONALLY! And then they will understand our way, they will understand, the Wrath of FIRE!"
The people of Konohagakure cheered, somehow, louder than before, shouting and crying out their support. Danzo grinned, knowing that he had already won in his own mind.
The Hokage turned around and headed back to his office. Alongside him were two ANBU agents and the two Council Elders, Homaru and Koharu. "You two will run the village in my stead while I am gone."
"Of course Lord Hokage," Homaru responded.
"What of the girl, Sakura? What will happen if we can't find her?"
"It doesn't matter. We have her uncle and her teammates as our prisoners. She'll come running back to them sooner or later."
Sakura bounced and flipped around, quickly defending herself from two slashes from a pair of ANBU agents, wielding only a kunai in her hand. She panted heavily, sweat pouring down her face as she had been resorting to fighting the squad of ANBU after they cornered her. She was vastly outnumbered, fighting against six of them total.
Six ANBU against one Chunin were without a doubt impossible odds, but Sakura was determined to go down swinging if she had to.
As the ANBU got ready for their final strike, one of them suddenly fell down, headless. The other five ANBU looked over in shock before looking at Sakura briefly, wondering if the young kunoichi had somehow done the beheading. One glance at the girl's shocked, horrified face confirmed that she had nothing to do with it.
Four needles shot out of the darkness, hitting one ANBU in the neck. The masked kunoichi let out a stifled groan before falling to the ground, paralyzed. Before anyone could move to aid the female ANBU, a giant sword came crashing down through her stomach, causing her to let out a choked gasp before passing on.
"Don't show mercy on them Haku," the masked, giant sword wielding shinobi scolded. He swung his sword outward, cleaving the dead ANBU in half before placing the dripping blade on his shoulders. "These guys won't show you any mercy."
"It's Zabuza Momochi," one ANBU cried out. "Akatsuki must be close by!"
"Danzo was right, this girl is working with Akatsuki!"
"Actually..." The four ANBU spun around, letting out a brief cry of shock as a large, white haired man sat on a bolder behind them. "I've never seen the girl before in my life."
Before the ANBU could exclaim their shock at seeing one of the Sannin, Zabuza roared loudly as he cut one more ANBU in half, and then beheaded another. The last two turned towards the Demon of Kirigakure, ready to attack him before Jiraiya appeared behind them in a blink, grasping them both by the backs of their necks.
With a loud pop, the two ANBU slouched over dead, and Jiraiya tossed them to the side like bags of garbage. "Care to dispose of those?"
"What about the girl," Zabuza asked, motioning her head towards Sakura.
The kunoichi was trembling in horror at what she witnessed, backing away as her whole body shook before she bumped into something. She turned around and looked up, seeing a smiling, gentle looking face staring at her.
"Hello."
Sakura quickly got up to her feet, a little disoriented as she stumbled back, staring at her three saviors. It was that moment when she realized that they were all wearing Akatsuki cloaks, and her heart finally started beating again.
The white haired old man stepped forward, cupping his chin as he analyzed Sakura for a moment. The young kunoichi watched him as he hummed with curiosity before pointing one of his large fingers at her. "You're definitely Saiki's daughter..." Sakura gasped, a little surprised at hearing her mother's name from a total stranger. The old man smiled and then put his hands on his hips, "Which means you're Sakura Haruno, right?"
"Y-yes sir, I am."
"My name is Jiraiya, of the Legendary Sannin, and one of the leaders of Akatsuki." Sakura's eyes popped open wide as could be upon hearing this. She had never met or seen Jiraiya before, and had only encountered Orochimaru in passing.
"Feh, you're too open about your identity," Zabuza growled as he gathered up the ANBU corpses into a pile. "She's an Alliance shinobi, remember?"
"Being chased by ANBU, and Naruto put his faith in her," Jiraiya said, reminding his partner. The Sannin looked over, seeing Sakura's worried, disgusted look towards Zabuza gathering the corpses, and body parts. Jiraiya quickly moved over towards her and turned her sight away from the disposal process. "So, what exactly are you doing all the way out here...and for that matter, being chased by the ANBU?"
"I-I need help," Sakura said, her mind now catching up with her. "M-my uncle is being framed for a crime he didn't commit!" Sakura fumbled with her pouch, digging for her uncle's journal, "I-I have his notes here to prove it a-and I-,"
"Hold on," Jiraiya said. Sakura stopped, looking up to the taller shinobi. Jiraiya knelt down closer to eye-level with Sakura. "You said Higure is in trouble...and being framed by the Alliance?" Sakura nodded, just as she managed to grab her uncle's journal and pull it out.
"I-it's right here in his latest entry. H-he said that Danzo believes the recent attack on the shoreline was from s-some guy named Mukade, w-who was responsible for some problems in a city named Roran." Jiraiya's expression grew more thoughtful by the second as Sakura blabbered on. Sakura opened the journal and flipped to a page a little bit before the halfway mark. "A-and it goes into greater detail here about their mission to Roran, and—and something called the Ryumyaku that was sealed by the Queen of Roran, Minato Namikaze, and Kushina Uzumaki. A-and in other parts, it mentions how Uncle Higure learned sealing ninjutsus from Kushina Uzumaki, and that in their specialized team, the Six Paths of the shinobi, he was second only to Lady Kushina, and that she was an expert in-,"
"Okay, okay, slow down," Jiraiya quickly spoke. Even he was having trouble following Sakura's mile-a-minute speech, and he knew most of the information she was telling him. Jiraiya then took the journal from Sakura and flipped through it aimlessly.
Knowing Higure as well as he did, Jiraiya would have guessed there were parts of his past that he would have wanted to keep a secret from Sakura, the same way Akatsuki did so to protect Naruto. Unlike Naruto however, Sakura had just blown the cap off of every secret Higure would have likely kept from her.
"How much of this did you read," Jiraiya asked, closing the journal and holding it up.
"O-only what I needed..."
Jiraiya smirked a little before sighing and flipping through it aimlessly, "Seems like you know a lot about your uncle's past...including about Kushina."
Sakura blushed a little, feeling as though she were going to be scolded, "O-only a little..."
Jiraiya stood up, closing the journal again, "I think I'll hold onto this for Higure's sake."
"But he's my uncle and-,"
"And you have to understand as his child, there are things he would have wanted to keep from you," Jiraiya said, his tone soft, yet firm. Sakura lowered her head to this, looking a little conflicted about giving her uncle's journal to a stranger. "I'll help you rescue your uncle, Sakura." The pinkette's head snapped back up and her eyes were set ablaze with hope.
Zabuza and Haku both turned to the Sannin, the former of which looked outraged, "You're joking, right? Isn't her uncle one of the top shinobi in the Alliance?"
"He's also no supporter of the Alliance, and surely won't be after this turn of events," Jiraiya stated, turning to the masked rogue. "He's also a friend, and I do owe him this much."
"W-we also talked about joining the Akatsuki too," Sakura piped in, turning to the skeptical Zabuza, nodding her head rapidly. "H-he was blackmailed into being a Commander because Danzo threatened to bring back my mother, father, and the other members of the Six Paths of the Shinobi with the Edo Tensei!"
"You really read everything in his journal, didn't ya kid," Zabuza questioned. Sakura flinched a bit, a pang of guilt going off in her conscious. Zabuza sighed before turning to Haku, who gave him a quick, smiling nod. "Alright, we'll help, but only because that tyrant would kill me if she found out I'd let you go off on your own like this."
Jiraiya let out a hardy laugh, rubbing the back of his shaggy head as a bewildered Sakura looked up at him. "Oh, Tsunade wouldn't harm you Zabuza." The masked shinobi scoffed as he turned back to the bodies to continue his process. Jiraiya turned to Sakura, drawing her attention towards him. "We'll save your uncle, and afterwards, you and he are free to go down whatever path you want. Though I would think by this point, the two of you would join us, right?"
"Yes, absolutely," Sakura said.
"There are going to be some rules then. Rules concerning what you know now, and what Naruto doesn't know...specifically about his mother..." Sakura simply stared blankly at Jiraiya, her mind racing at what she could possibly know about Naruto's mother that the boy did not.