A/N: This chapter has not been beta'd because the wonderful Kaori is on vacation and I wanted to get it up anyway. Please forgive me any of my spelling mistakes or poor language usag.

Chapter 18 – A Forest of Graves

A slight vibration of the air was the only thing heralding the arrival of Team Kick Ass (the name chosen by Rikku when she'd won the honor by being the first member of their cell to actually get kissed by a member of the opposite gender, a feat Kotetsu had really been sure he was going to accomplish first) into the almost pitch black dark of the Forest of Death. Izumo stretched his long limbs and did his best not to vomit all over the thick vegetation at his feet. While traveling through the use of seals was quicker and more chakra conservative then Rikku's normal transportation jutsu, it had some drawbacks of its own; namely the ridiculous speed at which the body was propelled through the portals could severely disorient the traveler. This was especially true if it was someone who suffered from motion sickness, and Izumo could often be found cursing his weak stomach after missions which incorporated numerous uses of the seals.

Slapping his slightly incapacitated teammate on the back forcefully, Kotetsu began to mock the unfortunate ninja. "Awww, did wittle Zumo-kun get sick again? Are you gonna frow up this time? Hey Rikku! Does anyone else have this problem, or just our wittle buddy?"

"Like I tell you every time you ask me, some people just never get used to it. I guess our wittle Zumo-kun is one of them. It'll wear off soon enough," Rikku teased back.

"Did you hear that Zumo-kun? You'll be all better soon and hopefully we won't have to tell Anko we were late saving her because you ate too much ice cream for dessert."

"Shut the fuck up you asshole!" Izumo growled. "And keep your voice down, there's 1000 samurai out here somewhere and we have no idea where or how far away they are."

Realizing their foolishness could have gotten them all killed, Kotetsu and Rikku both immediately stopped their laughter and joking. Weapons appeared in their hands and the jolly mirth in their eyes just moments before disappeared, replaced with the grim cold countenance of shinobi. Izumo hated when they did that, and it was actually happening more and more frequently since they'd been getting more C-ranked missions instead of the usual D-ranked excursions of genin, a sure sign that the hokage thought it was time they took the chunin exam. One minute they were the same flippant and happy teammates he'd grown up with, pranking people and telling jokes; the next they were stern, joyless, and distant, wearing the determined poker faces of the killers they were trained to be. What bothered Izumo the most about it was the light switch-like ease with which they changed. Turning one's personality off as you would a television or a table lamp could not be natural or healthy, and he often worried for the psyches of his childhood companions. But not right now, he couldn't afford the luxury of worry right now. Right now he was grateful for the "on" and "off" buttons they'd perfected. Tonight he needed them to be the hunters and exterminators he knew they could be. Anko's life might depend on it.

Silence once again reined over the forest as Team Kick Ass fanned out in search of the enemy combatants, but it was short lived. Just minutes after their separation the boys were interrupted by their wireless communicators.

"Guys, converge on my location, 35 degrees north and 46 degrees east of our entry point, and do it quickly. We may have a golden opportunity boys," Rikku's voice crackled over the transmitter.

Kotetsu was the first to arrive and find his female teammate leaping between trees to string metal thread through all the open spaces. Izumo turned up moments later and sees his partners have laid countless traps in the forest below them and are now exchanging smug expressions because there is nothing left for him to do, and later they'll be able to tease him about his "uselessness." In the distance he can hear the cries of men as they scream out in fear and in his heart he knows that has something to do with Anko, his warrior woman.

Rikku breaks the silence to explain her plan and how she came to it, because she can never leave anything to chance, and likes the confirmation that she hasn't overlooked anything. Upon contemplation Izumo realizes this is a good thing, they've corrected many a plan in such a fashion and it helps them to build teamwork.

"I was scouting up ahead about two miles when I came across them. They're running wildly away from something but I didn't get a chance to see what it was. I rushed back to secure this location and prepare the traps. Whatever is coming for them has them terrified. They're running blindly, screaming; no attempts at stealth even, just tearing through the forest on a dead run," she explained.

"If they're running so wildly how can you be sure that they'll come this way?" Izumo broke in.

"Because," she smirked. "They won't see anywhere else to go. I laid a simple genjutsu that makes the way here look like a straight trail with extremely dense foliage on the sides. Since they're goal is speed they won't want to leave the well worn path."

"That's our girl," Kotetsu lauded, bestowing her with a quick fist bump.

"Starting a half a mile from that opening in the trees I've placed exploding tags on both sides of the trail. When the fastest cowards reach here the entire stretch should be filled with the enemy. I'll blow the tags and most of them should be taken out in the blast. Those that make it through will most likely be those closest to whatever it is that's chasing them, and should be coming at a good speed," she continued.

"This is when it gets good," Kotetsu commented and Rikku nodded.

"They'll run right into the metal thread you've been stringing up," Izumo took it to the logical conclusion. "There will be a bottle neck at the wire as the ones in the back try to get away from their aggressor and push the ones in front right up to the wire. Good job Rikku."

"You've forgotten all about me Zumo-kun," Kotetsu feigned distress.

"Gomen, what did you do Tetsu?"

"I guess you're just gonna have to find out, aren't ya? He answered before leaping from the common branch they shared to one several feet away. From the sound of things the samurai would be bursting through the trees at any minute and Team Kick Ass assumed their attack formation.

The first enemy came stumbling across the tree line into the clearing and Izumo held his breath in anticipation of the explosion to come. Only it didn't come and he looked over to see that Rikku remained completely still, her eyes fixed on the trail. Then two more staggered out, followed by another three and Rikku's lips pulled up in a wicked sneer. BOOM!

Trees, dirt, and body parts filled the sky as the blast took out at least 100 of Ame's soldiers. The first man through the tree line afterward and the only visible survivor ran through the trees then suddenly fell down dead, a kunai sticking out of his forehead. Izumo and Rikku turned to the left simultaneously to see Kotetsu shrug noncommittally. I didn't want him to tear up the wire and ruin the plan he said using the silent ninja hand code.

Crouched on branches high up in the trees, Tsume's team was invisible to anyone below them and they waited patiently for the rest of Amegakure's forces to spill out. It was soon obvious that almost all of the samurai in that half mile stretch had been taken care of by the explosions because it was a fairly long wait before they saw anyone else. When another of their opponents finally staggered out of the tree line into their vision, he too quickly fell dead at the end of Kotetsu's kunai. What? He flashed in hand talk. I was getting bored.

Rikku rolled her eyes toward Izumo who just smirked; Kotetsu would never change and that was something for them to be grateful for. Shouts of fear became audible as the samurai got closer to their ambush. Lying in wait, Rikku, Izumo, and Kotetsu tensed at the sound and their hands dropped to weapons, as their eagle eyes converged on the opening in the trees, and all their senses tuned in for battle; Team Kick Ass was ready to do so.

Kotetsu choked back a laugh as Ame's battle hardened warriors poured into the clearing in a bumbling, disorganized mess. He knew it was in bad taste to laugh at a soldier's misfortune, even if they were on opposite sides, it could just as easily be him in the same predicament. However, this display of cowardice from supposedly well trained combatants was ludicrous. In his humble opinion these Ame bastards were a bunch of chicken-livered deserters, and if this was the best Rain country had to offer he wept for their people (not too hard though, they had attacked Konoha after all). To turn and run wildly in battle was a disgrace to your village as far as he was concerned. Konoha's soldiers would never do such a thing. An organized retreat was one thing, sometimes it was best to cut your losses, but this chaotic mass of idiots running every which way was unacceptable for a fighting unit. If this was what Amegakure sent out into the field then he couldn't help that they would all find quick deaths; with this level of incompetence it was inevitable.

More and more of the enemy spilled from the trees and as Rikku predicted they pushed those into the front closer and closer to the dangerous metal thread. Still running at top speed, the first rush of samurai met their deaths as they crashed into the flesh slicing wires. Their pained screams filled the air and Izumo cringed inwardly when he noticed it had no effect on his teammates. The samurai directly behind the now dead front line attempted to slow their charge and stop to save themselves from the same fate, but the rear charge had no idea what was going on and didn't slow their run. Thus the second wave was thrust into the deadly wire by the help of their own comrades. Before more of them could be cut to shreds by the wire, one of the men managed to cut open a section of it, allowing those still coming from behind to overflow past the steel of the first obstacle, much like water escaping from a dam. Unfortunately for them, Rikku had set up more than one stage of the traps, and soon they were pushing up on the second set.

More than 100 samurai fell in the surge from the trees through wire alone (proving without a doubt their uselessness to Kotetsu) and Rikku looked smug sitting in the tree a few down from Izumo. Now though her razor wire traps were at an end and soon they would have to actually enter the fray. Soon, but not quite yet, Kotetsu flashed to them. Finally past the invisible yet wicked metal threading the samurai let loose a loud war whoop as they charged through the trees. Kotetsu grinned slyly as they ran head first into his own traps.

Throughout the forest below numerous enemies tripped and fell to the ground, followed by the soft whistle of numerous projectiles and then the drop of bodies. Low lying trip wires saturated the forest beneath the Konoha ninja, and every time someone stumbled upon one it let loose a barrage of poison senbon. Even if the missiles didn't strike a vital organ, the toxin it carried into the body would do the job. Kotetsu winked at Izumo. Nice touch, right? He signed.

With all their traps sprung Tsume's team was about to jump into the fight when their enemy's assailants entered the scene. Rikku gasped, Kotetsu gaped, and Izumo tried not to lose his dessert for the second time that night. Hot on the heels of the fleeing samurai were more Ame samurai, only these samurai walked with wooden steps, stared with vacant eyes, and often dragged their entrails behind them. Though none of them had seen it before, it was forbidden after all, there was no doubt in their minds that what they were witnessing was Shisa Kugutsu, the Casualty Puppet technique. Ame's fallen samurai had been raised; reanimated by the chakra of a death god to do the bidding of their ninja master. The technique was forbidden as it called for a human sacrifice and Izumo paled knowing there was only one shinobi out there to whom it could have possibly been taught.

Jerked from his thoughts by the jarring of his tree branch, Izumo never finished that particular train of thought because his teammates were now whispering among themselves. This new development needed to be taken into consideration, and Izumo forced himself to listen.

"From what I've heard, these puppets won't stop until they finish their mission," Kotetsu confided.

"I know they're gross and all but this is great news," Rikku added. "They won't stop and they pretty much can't be killed. Plus, if they are who cares? It's not like they're Konoha soldiers."

"True,' Izumo confessed. "But we don't know if they're friendly. Can we fight alongside them or will they turn on us as well?"

"Good question. I guess there's only one way to find out," Kotetsu said before dropping to the forest floor right next to one of Anko's puppets. When the reanimated body lunged around him to take a samurai sword to the gut in Kotetsu's stead he called up, "They're on our side, come on down."

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Byakugan blazing fiercely Hizashi bore witness to the illegal actions of Mitarashi Anko from little more than a mile away; yet still too far to prevent it from happening. He'd been more than a little surprised to see anyone in the Forest at all, though he was glad for the help, he couldn't figure out why she was there at all, and with the little Uchiha boy no less. At first he'd wanted to look away; sure that the enemy samurai would cut her down and move on to her motionless comrades, but then he'd realized what she was about to do and his emotions were torn.

On one hand, once the jutsu was complete Konoha would have a great advantage and he and his student's chances for survival would increase tenfold. Against such insurmountable odds the girls' jutsu was practically heaven sent. But on the other hand, it was a forbidden technique. She was sacrificing humans to do it, something that went against Konoha's core system of beliefs. Yet she was doing it for the preservation of the Leaf Village and using Konoha's enemies for the sacrifice could hardly be counted against her could it? They would have died anyway if Konoha was victorious. So how could he find fault with her? If he himself knew the jutsu could he honestly say he wouldn't use it in defense of his home and precious people? Looking at his team and thinking of Neji, his own son, he decided he could not on either account, and he knew that if questioned later he would do what was in his power to protect the young kunoichi, she was after all doing the best she could to protect the people of Konoha.

As Anko finished piling up the bodies, three more chakra signatures flickered into his vision. Noting the familiar feel of a transportation jutsu, as well as the genin designation on their dog tags, he recognized the female ninja as one belonging to Inuzuka Tsume's squad. Talk around the water cooler said the girl was better with transportation then even upper level shinobi and great things were expected from her at the coming chunin exam. Not that Hizashi listened to such gossip, he'd just happened to be eating his lunch in the break room when a few ANBU had gotten back from detaining her and her squad after they'd been caught installing transport seals in the Hokage Tower basement. The girls' presence identified the group as Tsume's genin cell but that in itself gave him no explanation as to what they were doing out there, or where there sensei was.

Hizashi's team continued its current course as he monitored what was going on around them. Observing Anko's collapse at the conclusion of her jutsu and Tsume's team's expert ambush setup the Hyuga made a decision. Flashing signals to his team he let them know his new plan. They would go around the enemy, letting Tsume's genin take care of the charge. His own team would circle around back to where Anko, Kakashi, and the two Uchiha troublemakers lay unconscious. Hayate, Yugao, and Hizashi himself would engage the enemy from the rear, eliminating any samurai who had managed to evade the puppets, providing protection to the chakra exhausted shinobi. Iruka was charged with getting them out of the Forest. The diminutive Umino had balked at the idea of not being in the fight alongside his teammates, but with the boys' squeamishness Hizashi thought a rescue mission more appropriate for him. Iruka steamed silently until Hayate signed, Don't you want to save your girlfriend's teammates? Rin would think that was more important. After that his entire attitude changed and Hizashi could honestly say Iruka had never been more focused. Amazed at the reaction his student gave at the mention of this Rin, Hizashi decided he would have to meet her.

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Fighting alongside Anko's puppets made combat much easier, Izumo might even go as far as to say it was a leisurely fought battle, if there was such a thing. While the puppets were not nearly as quick or nimble as the ninja, or even the samurai for that matter, they made up for it in sheer relentless pursuit and dogged dedication to the protection of the leaf ninja. Wherever they were in the fight, Izumo, Kotetsu, and Rikku could all count on the fact that at least one of the puppets was nearby, and whenever it even seemed possible that an enemy weapon might hit them, a doll threw itself in the way.

To Izumo's way of thinking this was the best way to do battle. Having nameless accomplices throwing themselves up as your shield, rather than worrying a close friend might take a hit for you took a lot of pressure off and he thanked Anko for the help. He hoped wherever she was they were doing the same thing for her. As it was he figured it was only a matter of time before he could go find his sweetheart. The mission had basically developed into a roundup and slaughter of the remaining enemies, and with every foe that fell a new ally rose in its place. The biggest obstacle they faced at the moment was the fleeing combatants. They were wasting a lot of time hunting down the assailants that attempted to run away.

"Magen Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion False Surroundings Technique)!" Kotetsu must have been having the same thought.

Having no training to protect against genjutsu the samurai were extremely susceptible to it, and Kotetsu had taken full advantage of it. The escaping invaders could now only see a towering brick wall surrounding the area they occupied instead of the vast expanse of empty forest that existed. Thinking themselves trapped the men of Amegakure turned to face their captors. For this, Izumo was grateful; while he didn't mind stabbing an enemy through the back as he ran away (he is after all a ninja and sneaky is their way), he would prefer to fight an opponent head on. Even if said opponent stands no shot in hell of winning he just feels it's more sportsmanlike. With the problem of chasing down the intruders eliminated Izumo's new concern was that he might run out of chakra before Konoha's bug infestation could be completely exterminated. Looking in his pouch for a soldier pill to keep his energy up he decided he had an even better idea for conserving steam, which was to use as little of it as possible.

"Kotetsu!" he called to his teammate. "We need to immobilize them, then Rikku can take them out."

Kotetsu's giant grin lit up his face as he quickly nodded in understanding. His excitement was palpable; he'd always been a big fan of demonstrating their teams' cooperative maneuvers in the field and it was his own insistence that they created this formation. Being a big fan of the Ino-Shika-Cho configuration Kotetsu frequently demanded they practice their own so that the Hage-Kami-Tay composition would one day be just as recognizable. Izumo and Rikku have always bitched about it, complaining that their individual skills were more important, after all, once they're chunin they may get put together rarely, but today the pair of them is grateful that they've spent so much time on it.

"Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Body Paralysis)" comes from Kotetsu.

"Suiton: Mizuame Nabara (Water Release Syrup Capture Field)!" Izumo shouts concurrently with his teammate.

The samurai standing within a ten foot radius of Kotetsu fall down stiff as boards, shock filing their eyes as his jutsu immobilizes them with temporary paralysis. Not that they'll live long enough to know its temporary. Those standing closer to Izumo find themselves sinking into a soft sticky substance; the very ground beneath their feet has betrayed them and the syrup encasing their feet only incapacitates them further by sucking them in deeper if they struggle. Kotetsu quickly claps three times in succession to signal the Tay part of their formation, and now it's time for Rikku's contribution.

From across the clearing she comes running, picking up speed as she goes. She continues her run up the side of a tall tree and out onto a thick tree limb high above the ground. Fully using all the speed she's acquired Rikku's body launches into the night sky. Her blond hair blows back in the wind as she spins through the air and Kotetsu can't get it out of his mind that she looks almost like an angel.

"Fukumi Hari (Hidden Needles Attack)," she calls out, and thousands of senbon fill the air, transported from some secret location where Rikku stores more weapons than either of her teammates would know what to do with. They hang silently in the air for a moment, then as Rikku's body flips end over end they plummet down with deadly accuracy; piercing either the enemy's lungs and cutting of their oxygen supply, or their soft eyes, diving straight into delicate brain tissue. She rarely misses, but Izumo thinks that's due more to the ridiculous number of senbon called forth than her aim, which has always been good but not amazing, and although they search the downed samurai for survivors they find only three of the trapped men alive. If they perform the Hage-Kami-Tay formation just three more times they should then only have clean up to do, and Izumo finds himself smiling now that there is an end in sight.

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Watching as Hayate, Yugao, and Hizashi-sensei take up protective positions around Rin's unconscious teammates Iruka steels himself for the task at hand. While he'd originally been angry that Hizashi-sensei was taking him out of the fight, seeing it as a sign that his teacher thinks he is weak, he now realizes his task is actually the most important one. Sure the four of them could have remained in the fight and helped the other team fend of Konoha's invaders, but then they would most certainly lose at least one, if not more, of their exhausted companions. Hidden Leaf Village nindo states that you do not leave comrades behind unless it will compromise the mission, and he didn't intend to. Especially since he knew Rin considered these people her family.

Looking at the collapsed forms of Rin's teammates and their new friends Iruka began determining the best strategy for getting them all out alive. Though suffering the most severely from chakra depletion, Obito and Kakashi are both in better condition than Itachi and Anko. All four seem to be suffering from the condition, but the smaller Uchiha has the least severe case of it. However, this point is made moot by the fact that the boys' body is probably the most heavily damaged. Physically he had been decimated, large puncture wounds in both his arms and legs had lost him a lot of blood, and in fact they continue to do so; Iruka doubts he will live much longer if he doesn't get to a hospital soon. Unfortunately, Anko appears to have even less time. Her skin is pale and bruised in several places; she is bleeding from several small wounds, as well as from one large gash in her left shoulder where it looks like she's taken a hit from a very large axe. More importantly her small body is racked with convulsions and spit seems to be foaming out of her mouth. Kakashi and Obito could be moved last, and he decides he has to move Anko first and hope he gets back in time for the little Uchiha. Hoisting her up on his back he notices how light she is, if she weighs even 100 pounds he'd be surprised. But with this new information he decides he can press his luck and move both her and Itachi at the same time. Its going to slow him down somewhat to carry two people, but Itachi's chance of survival increases tenfold if he drags him out of there now. So reinforcing his muscles with chakra Iruka takes off through the forest with Anko slung over one shoulder and Itachi on the other.

Exiting the protective barrier his teammates have provided, Iruka moves hesitantly through the forest; wary of any stray samurai that might attack him. With both ninja on his back it will be difficult for him to access any of his weapons. However he encounters no enemies and his confidence increases with each step, spurring him on faster through the woods. He wishes he could travel through the treetops, because weaving in and out of the large trees makes it difficult to pick up any real speed, but it's too dangerous for him to do so carrying his current load. His balance could be off slightly and he can't afford that when he's high up in the air where he could drop his comrades to their deaths. So onward he marches on the forest floor, moving closer and closer to the exit where he'll finally be on even ground and able to shift it into overdrive.

Seeing the gate up ahead Iruka's excitement soars and he races recklessly fast toward the metal construct. In his haste to save the Leaf comrades in his arms he tunes out everything around him and focuses solely on the exit in front of him. Tunnel vision working in full effect he is completely disoriented when a 200 pound body slams into him from the right. His own body crashes into a broad maple, while Itachi's limp form hits the ground rolling, leaving his face bloodied and dirty, and Anko is knocked from his grasp to lie at the feet of his attackers. Iruka notices there are three of them, the one that had tackled him is climbing to his feet, another smaller man with greedy eyes and a black handle-bar mustache is starting to move toward Anko, and a tall bald man is standing further in the back with a crossbow aimed at his skull.

Shit, he'd really messed this one up. Sure he has enough chakra to take these guys on and win, and he is secure in his belief that his skills are such that he can evade the crossbow shot, but Anko and Itachi can not. Totally exhausted, the two of them are completely helpless to defend themselves further. It had been Iruka's job to keep them safe, a mission he has failed completely. Scowling, Iruka stands slowly making all of his movements very obvious and deliberate so as not to spook his assailants into attacking.

"Put your hands over your head!" Handle-bar mustache man barks at him.

"What do you want?" Iruka asks as he raises his hands in submission.

"Shut your mouth and move over there!" the man snaps at him while pointing toward the large maple tree he'd just had his body smashed into.

Moving toward the tree Iruka speaks; "Do you have a plan? I can help get you out of here."

"I thought I told you to shut up! The three of you are our ticket out of here; we're going to trade you for our freedom."

"That's not going to happen," Iruka responds, shaking his head. "You attacked Konoha openly; they will kill you on sight, especially if you're holding captives."

"They won't do shit to us when we've got three of their own. We know Konoha's a bunch of bleeding heart bastards. They won't take any chances while we have your lives in our hands," the man who'd tackled him argued.

"You're wrong, it's not going to work," Iruka begins to explain, completely flummoxed by the opinions outsiders have of Konoha and its shinobi, sure the Hidden Leaf Village ninja are known for having more compassion than other villages but they are also known as the strongest nation . So why do so many foreign ninja think they're a bunch of morons who'll just bend over and be sodomized?. "They won't negotiate with you and if you even tr—"

Smash! A fist collides with the young shinobi's face, and he can tell his nose is definitely broken.

"Shut your mouth, you no good lying piece of shit!" The tall bald man yells while shaking Iruka's blood from his hand.

Slumpeing against the tree now, Iruka tries in vain to think of a way out of the mess he's in. Taking stock of his surroundings, he notes the exit gate is still in sight, so anyone coming in should see them. He has been stripped of most of his weapons, though they've missed two senbon he has in the seam of the zipper in his pants, even though Yugao told him that's a good way to get a new whole in his penis (Iruka thinks she just likes to try and shock him with her crudeness and isn't actually worried that something could happen) and a kunai that's tucked into his boot. Unfortunately with his hands tied behind his back the way they are, he can't reach any of them, and he gives the otherwise idiotic samurai credit for at least knowing how to tie a shinobi up. Other than the bruise forming on his back where he'd hit the tree and the broken nose he's recently received, he's mostly uninjured and once he finds a way out of these ropes he'll easily be able to take these guys. He's been left breathing loudly through his mouth, as when he breathes through his nose he gets a mouth full of blood for the trouble, but Iruka can still manage to hear the labored breathing of Itachi and the barely there gasps coming from the collapsed and twitching Mitarashi and despair for their plight fills his entire being. They need to get out of there now if there's going to be any hope for either of them to survive.

A/N: Please leave a review, I would love to hear from you!