Chapter 15

A Step Closer To the Goal

Akuma stared at the sorry group before him and cursed his luck, even as another bolt of lightning crossed the sky, followed shortly by a deafening crash of thunder. The two women cringed at every flash of light or rumble in the night – clutching each other with gasps and cries of fear no matter how many times he demanded they stay silent. The three medical ninjas were even more useless...one was old and crippled – barely able to keep the slow pace he was already forced into by the fragile state of the women. Another was so concerned about the medicines he carried he was unwilling to let anyone else carry the precious cargo – which in turn led to them needing frequent stops so he could catch his breath. The third was obviously a newly appointed chunin who was startled by every movement within bushes and trees they passed – even those caused by the driving rains and wind of this latest storm. After the tenth false alarm from the chunin's overactive imagination, Akuma sent the others on ahead and cornered the young man against a tree.

Wild light brown hair blew in the wind – barely contained by his Lightning headband. Pale green eyes shifted nervously all around him – searching the surroundings for some unknown assailant. Akuma drew a slow breath through his lips and caught the fool's glance in his stare.

"Tell me, Kainashi, is there some reason you are so on edge?"

The pale eyes widened and the chunin tensed. "No...no...do you mean besides the fact that an enemy attacked the compound and we're running away to keep the girls safe?"

Akuma allowed a small smile to creep across his face. "The way you are acting makes me wonder if perhaps you are working with that enemy and are awaiting their arrival."

The young man paled and shook his head causing the wild hair to whip from side to side. "I would never do that, Akuma! Believe me!"

Akuma's smile switched to a frown. "I wish I could, Kainashi, but we really don't have time for this right now. And I need to teach the others a lesson."

Akuma formed three hand signs in quick succession and then placed the heel of his hand just above the man's nose. In an instant, the man collapsed to the ground – his eyes glazed over and a stream of blood flowed from one ear. Akuma bent over and retrieved any usable weapons from the man's clothing, then kicked his body under a nearby bush. He quickly caught up to the others, and after pointedly ignoring their questions about the whereabouts of the young man, Akuma noticed the rest of the group did its best to meet the pace he set for them to follow.

He smiled to himself. If he could get them to keep this pace up, they should reach his safe house in two days. Then he'd have time to decide what his next steps should be.

-- --


Ibiki shifted his pack on his shoulders and moved toward the main gates of Konoha. The streets were empty – as was to be expected this early in the morning – and the rooftops had only a handful of shinobi and ANBU making their ways to or from one mission or another. This quiet time of the day was usually Ibiki's favorite – but today all it did was amplify the thoughts in his head about Wolf. Especially when he dwelt on the fact that this time he may actually need to terminate someone he counted as a close acquaintance, if not a friend.

Ibiki scowled and pushed the thought back for the hundredth time since Tsunade made this his mission. It wouldn't do anyone any good if he'd already made his mind up about what the results of this task were before he had the chance to check Wolf...no..before he had the chance to check Kakashi over for himself. As if in response to his train of thoughts, a particularly nasty scar across his back from his last encounter with Wolf twinged painfully. Ibiki shifted his pack once more until it wasn't pressing against it as much. The sun was just pushing past the horizon when he reached the gates. As expected – Tsunade was waiting for him. What he hadn't expected was to see her aide, Shizune, standing beside her in her jonin field uniform and gear. The Hokage looked as though she hadn't slept a wink since their meeting earlier, and by the concerned look in Shizune's dark eyes as she glanced at Tsunade it was likely the woman wouldn't get a full night's sleep until this issue was resolved – one way or another.

Ibiki nodded in greeting once he joined them at the gate. "Hokage...Shizune. Am I to assume I'm not traveling alone today?"

Shizune shifted from foot to foot – whether from nerves or eagerness to leave was anyone's guess. Her voice, however, was strictly professional when she spoke – causing Ibiki to lean toward mission eagerness in his assessment.

"Lady Tsunade felt a medical ninja might come in handy considering Wolf's past history."

Ibiki met Tsunade's eyes – wondering just how much she'd told the young medic. "I see."

Inwardly, Ibiki was actually glad Tsunade had thought to send along a medic – outwardly, he shifted his pack once more and moved to step through the gates. Tsunade's strained voice caused him to stop.

"Ibiki – no matter what happens...bring him home."

He tensed slightly at her words but didn't look back at her. "Yes Hokage."

With that, Ibiki set off down the road toward where Crow's mission update told him they were headed. Shizune fell into step beside him, her longer than normal shirt sleeves flapping in the breeze as they switched to running at a steady pace.

-- --


Chuutetsu sat in the kitchen of the ship captain's house and smiled down at the young child on his knee. The boy's light blond hair fell into his big brown eyes and there were streaks of dirt covering his chubby cheeks. The little boy – no more than six – was proudly presenting his skinned elbows and knees for Chuutetsu to treat. He couldn't help but smile at how happy the child was of his 'battle wounds,' and he wondered if Kakashi was like this when he was this young.

"So then Yuushi, did you manage to win the war?" Chuutetsu smiled wider at the serious look that fell over the youngster's face.

"Of course we did!" The boy scratched at his forehead while his eyes scrunched up a bit. "Or at least I think we did."

Chuutetsu chuckled. "You aren't sure?"

Yuushi shrugged. "Sensei said we won be default."

"Oh. So you chased your opponents away?"

Yuushi frowned. "Not exactly." He blushed slightly. "Their mother called them in for dinner."

Now Chuutetsu laughed out loud, startling the boy. "I'm sorry Yuushi. It's just that I don't think too many battles out there are called on account of dinner."

The little boy blinked at him in confusion. "Does that mean we didn't win?"

Chuutetsu couldn't believe how seriously the young boy was taking his war-games. Didn't any of these children know how to play for the sake of playing? "Your Sensei said you won – right?"

The boy sniffed back a tear and nodded.

Chuutetsu smiled warmly at him. "Then you won!"

A bright smile transformed the face into one of pure delight. "That's right! We did! I can't wait to tell Father!"

Chuutetsu grabbed a damp cloth off the table and returned to tending to the skinned knees. "Well then – let's make sure you're all bandaged up before he gets home, shall we?"

The young boy smiled wider and sat remarkably still while he finished tending the scrapes. He was just about finished when he heard a commotion in the front room of the house. Setting the boy on the floor and patting his head before shooing him out the back door, Chuutetsu moved toward where the unfamiliar voices were coming from.

The Captain's wife was trying to deny Chuutetsu's presence but when a new voice – that of Badger - joined the discussion he knew the time to show himself was at hand. He walked into the room and saw two masked ANBU standing alongside a young dark-haired woman and a slightly older man wearing what was obviously some sort of uniform. They all turned toward him when he entered, and he did his best not to show his disappointment that Iruka-sensei and Kakashi were not with them.

Badger stepped forward. "Chuutetsu, Crow has asked us to bring you to meet up with the others."

Chuutetsu frowned and scratched at the back of his head. "Does this mean you've completed your mission?"

Mouse shook his head. "Not exactly. But your skills are needed."

Chuutetsu knew he paled at the comment but he was beyond caring. "Who's hurt? Were you able to find Kakashi? He's still alive...isn't he?"

Badger placed a hand on Chuutetsu's shoulder. "We recovered Wolf – but he is injured. In addition, Iruka-sensei has need of your services."

Chuutetsu's eyes widened. He'd figured Kakashi would be hurt – after all, his captors had decimated his own city searching for him. But he'd hoped no one else would be injured. He should have known better.

"Just let me gather my things and we can head out. How far away are they?"

Badger tipped his head to one side as though trying to determine something just by studying him. "It was two days run for us. But I'm assuming our way back will be a bit slower."

Chuutetsu caught the implied insult and frowned. "I may not be as quick as you ANBU, but I can run faster and longer than most. I'll try not to slow you down too much, Badger."

The ANBU shrugged. "It is what it is, medic. We will get there when we get there."

He caught sight of the young girl rolling her eyes at the masked man's comment, and he made a mental note to stick closer to her than the ANBU on their journey. Something told him she would be liable to give him a clearer idea of what was really going on than the two ANBU operatives. Meanwhile, the uniformed man kept shifting his eyes nervously around the room – as though expecting someone to jump out of the shadows.

Chuutetsu turned and left to gather his gear. In less than fifteen minutes he had his supplies together and was thanking the woman for her hospitality over the past few days. Ten minutes later and they were on their way – a smaller pack full of fresh fruit and bread pressed into his hands by the Captain's wife as he stepped out the door. Chuutetsu smiled at her and moved into a jog to catch up with the others, his mind already on what condition his patient – no – his patients might be in. He only hoped they'd hold on until he arrived.

-- --


Neji followed the group in relative silence – running side by side with his fellow jonin, Raidou. The ANBU at the lead were so focused on following Locust's swarm that for a split-second he thought he shouldn't bring their attention to what he was seeing. But something about it just didn't seem right – and so he sent the signal up the line to call for a stop.

The glare from Kakashi's eye when he looked over his shoulder confirmed yet again that this was most definitely not the man he was used to working with – but he needed to follow his hunch on this regardless of who thought otherwise.

Crow moved to his side. "What have you found?"

Neji led the ANBU captain to the low brush that caught his attention and pushed it aside until the body of a young Lightning chunin was revealed. The man's eyes were wide open in death's glare – but there were no noticeable signs of injury.

Kakashi leaned over to look. His tone made it clear he was not happy with this delay. "It's a dead body. I would like to think by the time someone reaches jonin level that seeing a dead body wouldn't be a cause to stop a mission."

Neji fought down the urge to respond to the obvious insult directly and chose to follow protocol instead. "Crow – my attention was caught when I noticed the method of death and thought perhaps it was relevant to our mission."

A low growl from Kakashi's throat let Neji know his method of reply was not appreciated, but none the less, it was Crow who responded. "Explain Neji."

He knelt next to the body and pointed to the spot directly above the corpse's nose. There was what looked to be a smudge of dirt, but on closer inspection it proved to be a bruise. He activated his Byakugan to make certain what he saw before was accurate before he continued.

"The chunin died from a single blow – here." He pointed to the bruise.

Kakashi's curiosity crept through his words, as did his growing impatience. "Tell me how."

"It appears to be similar to the Hyuga clan's soft-boxing technique in how it utilized the chakra network. But where we use exact blows to close off or open up the chakra points and cause a disruption in the flow, this attacks sole purpose was to destroy the entire network in one single blow."

Crow turned toward him. "Destroy it?"

Neji nodded. "Yes, Crow. That's what caught my attention. Normally a dead body's chakra network remains intact – even after a Hyuga's attack – but every channel of this man's chakra network has been scattered throughout his body. It infiltrated every inch of tissue – causing a severe chakra surge throughout all the organs of the body at the exact same instant."

Kakashi growled again. "His body couldn't handle it."

Neji looked up into the silver-haired man's face, deactivating his Byakugan in the process. "No one's could. That much raw chakra – even from the weakest chakra network – is enough to trigger a cascade failure of every critical body function."

Neji stood up. "The only rumor I have ever heard of such an ability was from my Uncle. He spoke of a forbidden jutsu practiced by an offshoot branch of the Hyuga's nearly three decades ago. The last person to use it was Kinmotsu."

Neji saw Crow tense a bit at mention of the name. Kakashi seemed to notice it as well as he addressed the captain. "Why the reaction, Crow?"

Crow rubbed at the back of his neck and responded by asking what Neji had hoped he wouldn't ask. "That was Orochimaru's uncle – wasn't it Neji?"

Neji frowned – he didn't particularly enjoy being reminded that the Snake Sannin was related to his family – even remotely. "Yes – but he died over twenty years ago – at my Uncle's hands."

Crow looked back down toward the body. "So then who did this?"

Kakashi knelt next to the body and leaned in close. Neji watched the man take the time to slowly sniff over the chunin and then he stood back up. His face was a mask of anger and disgust as he spoke a single word.

"Akuma."

-- --


Bear never particularly enjoyed being teamed up with Gai, but in this case he could understand Crow's choice. The primary purpose was to get the overly energetic man away from Wolf before one or the other cracked. He could still remember the last time the two met up.

Wolf had only recently been released from the hospital after being retrieved from the mission which melded his ANBU personality into such a vicious creature, and the village hadn't realized quite yet just how dangerous that persona was. The ANBU medics at the hospital finished healing the boy physically, and after an exam from the psychologists on duty they had been fooled into letting the boy out. Because of their mistake more than a dozen shinobi spent the better part of the next month in one form or another of rehabilitation – both physical and psychological.

But Wolf had so many layers he really couldn't blame the men who performed that initial scan from missing the signs of instability. After all – even after the boy was placed back into the ward for observation, it took weeks before even his own scans could pierce the darkness within that mind enough to find the underlying causes.

Still – if only they'd found that crack initially – Gai wouldn't have had the opportunity to approach Wolf and make the mistake of challenging the boy. The two had always known each other – having been born in the same year – and Gai, being eight months older, always strove to catch up with the genius Hatake. By the time Gai was just entering the Academy, Wolf was already graduating and being assigned a mentor. The older boy used his compatriot's success as a means to push himself farther than anyone would have imagined – and considering Gai didn't hold very much talent in genjutsu or ninjutsu – those challenges tended toward taijutsu and usually ended with the boys reporting to the hospital with contusions of one sort or another.

So when Wolf was finally released from the hospital, Gai's natural exuberance led him to seek out his younger friend. He found the boy at the top of the Hokage Monument running through a series of katas, and not wanting the younger boy to outshine him, Gai loudly proudly exclaimed the challenge of taijutsu to Wolf. No one could have known that the older boy held the look of one of Wolf's captors. No one could have foreseen the reaction that innocent challenge would have elicited. No one in their wildest dreams would have thought Wolf could move so quickly after only just being released from the Hospital.

Gai still refused to talk about the exact details of his beating. Once he woke up, he withdrew into himself so thoroughly that there was fear that the Green Beast had been broken more than just physically. But once Gai learned that the boy he challenged was not in his right mind, Gai's own recovery went much quicker. And the day we resumed challenging his friend to various tasks was a sign that both boys were finally mending.

Now – watching the tension in Gai's shoulders – Bear didn't need to scan the man's mind to know what he was thinking. He was worried that this time...this time they may not be able to return his Eternal Rival from his prison. And Bear had to admit – that same fear was going through his own mind.

Gai took the lead when they started out and pushed the team to their limit in speed. They made it to the rendezvous point in record time and because of that, Bear had to spend a full day calming Gai down and reminding him that there was nothing they could do until Ibiki arrived. He watched Gai and Lee run through tortuous training until Ibiki arrived a day later – the addition of Shizune to the team was a pleasant surprise which showed Bear more than anything that Ibiki had filled the Hokage in on just what Wolf's reemergence meant.

-- --


Rather than waste time being filled in by Bear when they reached the rendezvous, Ibiki insisted they head out immediately. He kept pace with Bear easily and turned toward the man.

"I assume it's pretty bad if Crow asked for a field extraction rather than waiting until you got him back to Konoha."

Bear glanced toward where Shizune was running beside Lizard and then turned back to face Ibiki. "It was wise to bring such a skilled medic, Ibiki. I'm afraid her skills are already needed."

Ibiki tensed at those words – his mind going back to his own encounters with Wolf in the past. "Dammit, Bear. What's Wolf done?"

Bear sighed – a sign that things were definitely not going well. "He came very close to killing the Sensei."

"What?!?" Ibiki knew Kakashi and Iruka weren't the best of friends prior to this mission, but he never would have expected this.

Bear shook his head. "This version of Wolf is...different. He seems to be unable to remember more recent events. He didn't recognize Iruka-sensei at all...or Shikamaru and the other younger shinobi...and I fear he isn't going to react well when he learns of Asuma and Jiraiya's deaths."

"Dammit...this complicates things. We not only have to suppress Wolf, we need to restore some of the most damaging memories that man has faced since the Fourth's death."

Bear lowered his head slightly which did nothing to relieve Ibiki's growing tension. "And this time, Ibiki, we won't have the Uchihas as backup."

His friend was right. One of the only reasons they'd succeeded in bringing Kakashi back the last time was because Fugaku Uchiha was able to keep Wolf under control with his higher level sharingan techniques while the others worked within the young man's mind. Without that aid this time – it was quite possible that he and Bear would not be able to bring Kakashi back. Ibiki frowned. It was now crystal clear that the Hokage recognized that as well – which was why she had phrased the mission parameters the way she had.

"Bear – how badly beaten is Iruka?"

"He's wasn't beaten at all. Wolf was going to slit his throat. If Crow hadn't stepped in when he did – he would have succeeded."

Ibiki considered Bear's words carefully. On one hand, it was obvious Wolf wasn't as out of control as the last two times – when he opted for brute strength in his attacks instead of finesse. On the other hand – by the sound of it, this version of Wolf had no problem killing a fellow Konoha shinobi. He wondered if it was because he didn't remember who Iruka was – or if he'd cross that line for any of them.

He looked toward the front of the group and watched Gai and Lee pushing forward in silence. Their concentration was fully on the small group of beetles flying in front of them. Ibiki had to admit – he had wondered how they'd manage to track down Crow and Wolf when Bear informed him they were still on the move...but when Gai pulled out the small box containing Locust's bugs he'd been impressed. In effect – they had the perfect way to track down the others as long as Locust remained a member of the team.

All he could hope was that they'd meet up with the others before any further attempts on Konoha shinobi could occur.

-- --


Akuma turned toward his charges. In the past two days he'd ended up trimming the fat from the group far more than he'd expected. The pace he'd set caused one of the women to go into distress and unfortunately she hadn't been strong enough to survive the complications. At the same time the elder of the medics was becoming more of a liability than he was worth. He'd quickly eliminated them to enable the remaining woman and her keeper to make their escape. Still – if he wanted to succeed in having a viable commodity to sell to his cousin, he needed to allow the woman time to rest before the final push toward the Sound Village.

When he found a small abandoned shack nestled among the trees he took advantage of the opportunity to get the pair out of the rain. The medic moved the young woman toward the far wall of the shack while Akuma set about lighting a fire in the small stove at the hearth. Once he was certain the fire wouldn't go out for a bit he turned toward the pair. They were nervous and obviously frightened of him – particularly after he eliminated their companions, but at least he knew they were in no shape to attempt running off.

Akuma approached them – all pretense of being their Saviour gone. "You need to rest – so rest. You know I can track you down should you be foolish enough to move away from this spot – so don't!"

The woman whimpered and the medic swallowed deeply before answering with a tight voice. "We will stay right here until you return."

Akuma nodded once and stepped to where he'd placed his pack. He reached in and pulled a small bag out. When he tossed it toward the medic, for a moment he thought the fool would flinch and drop it, but he caught it – although awkwardly – and stared back with confusion plainly on his face.

Akuma sighed. "You'll find fruit and nutrition bars in there for the next few days. Keep her healthy or you will wish you'd met the fate of the others. Do I make myself clear?"

The medic paled noticeably and nodded his understanding. Akuma hefted his pack onto his shoulder and stepped back out into the driving rain. He still needed to track down one of Orochimaru's many spies which he knew ranged through this part of the country. The last thing he wanted to do was give his cousin any reason to deem his approach as an attack – and so he needed to contact the Sannin first to make certain he was interested in what he had to offer. Although Akuma doubted the man would be able to resist the potential the precious cargo in the woman represented.

-- --


Wolf came to a stop when Locust signaled. They were standing in the rain looking at a small shack which could have been mistaken as abandoned if not for the smoke issuing from the chimney and the swarm's insistence that at least part of their goal lay within. Wolf scowled. Because of this latest batch of storms he had to rely solely on Locust's bugs to track his prey, as the rain managed to wash away most of the scents before they got to them. He turned toward the ANBU member.

"Are they all in there?"

Locust shook his head. "The one you named as Akuma is not there. Only two people lie within."

That was all Wolf needed to know – and he was off at a run toward the shack before any of the others could try to stop him. One well-placed kick destroyed the sorry excuse for the door, and he took the scene in quickly. The small stove gave off a minimal amount of heat, and he found his targets huddled in front of it. Of course, once his entrance registered in their minds he watched them scamper toward the far corner – their fear rolling off them in waves.

Wolf narrowed his eye and growled at them. He took a single step toward the cowering girl and her keeper – barely resisting the urge to rip their throats out quite yet. He needed to confirm that this was the only incubator left.

"Where are the others?" His voice was low and caused the two to shake.

The man held the girl close while answering. "The others are...dead...thanks to Akuma. Please...please...just let us go...we won't be any trouble to you...please."

Wolf felt nothing but disgust from the man's words. "That is not an option!"

He growled low and made the hand signs which called his Chidori to life. The whines of his prey as they begged for their lives nearly overtook the chirping of his technique, but he pushed the thought from his mind and took another step toward his targets. Once he finished with them, he'd be able to fully concentrate on tracking down Akuma and making the man pay once and for all.

He hadn't taken more than two steps forward when another body joined the two cowering on the floor. The Academy Teacher put himself between Wolf and his prey. The man was gripping a katana and, although his fear was evident in his scent, there was no sign of it in his hard glare.

"I won't let you kill them, Wolf!"

Wolf snarled. "You can't stop me, Sensei."

Wolf lifted his left hand into position for the strike – his Chidori crackling in the room and casting its familiar blue-white glow across the faces in the corner, reflecting off the katana blade. He resumed his movement to finish what he started – intending to punch a hole through all three of them. Just when he was about to make contact – his body froze in place.

"What?!?" It took Wolf only a moment to recognize the Nara family's infamous shadow jutsu, and an instant later to sense Shikamaru behind him. Wolf would deal with the upstart later – meanwhile he was already shifting his chakra to counter the jutsu's hold. He could feel the young man's control begin to break, and as Wolf was about to free himself from its grip, he sensed Crow at his side and felt the sharp sting of a senbon in his neck. Wolf's Chidori faded from his fingertips when the sedative took hold of his system.

Crow's traitorous words followed Wolf into the darkness. "Forgive me, Wolf."