Hey everyone! Welcome back to the 10th chapter of 'Immortalized'! I'd like to thank all you guys that take the time to read/review. I love getting feedback on my work and I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. I hope I'm able to keep you all interested in the story as it keeps going on, and real quick, for those of you who have been asking, 'Immortalized' will NOT have a harem. While I don't particularly care one way or the other on them, I don't believe I could convincingly write one. Anyways, onto the chapter!
Chapter 10
Prices Paid
Naruto laid in his bed, enjoying the soft warmth of his large bed, and upon waking up, slowly opened his eyes to look on the plain white ceiling of the room. As he breathed in the fresh, clean air, he could honestly say he was happy to have been granted a gracious few days from the Hokage to recover from the 'Shimura Incident', as it had taken to being called over the short period of time that had passed. The blonde haired shinobi sighed softly to himself, not wanting to wake the other person that had taken to sharing his bed, as he started thinking to himself.
It had been six days since the Shimura Incident, where Danzo and two of his Lieutenants, the now identified Aburame Fu and Yamanaka Torune, had broken into the Hokage's vault, and while a large force of the old war hawks ROOT Shinobi had run interference for him. It had quickly become a battle of silent and unseen chaos, as the two warring Black Ops factions fought against each other. As the ROOT shinobi had all been inside of and integrated with the regular ANBU divisions, when the order came for them to show their true colors it was a near massacre for the loyalists in the first few minutes of open conflict.
This wasn't to last though, as the separatist forces of Danzo's ROOT were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the loyal ANBU Divisions under the lead of the Captains, and even the Hokage himself had taken to open combat later in the fight, proving his moniker as the "The Professor" was still accurate as he single handedly decimated ninja after ninja. It was only after the Hokage and his forces had dealt a swift end to all of the separatists that they had been able to make their way towards the large purple glowing barrier in the woods, and had come across Naruto's own fight, watching with bated breath as the Captain of the Seventh Division took on three opponents of A-Rank notoriety.
After the battle the after the fallen blonde shinobi had been rushed to the hospital to treat the multitude of wounds that had littered his body, losing consciousness before he had even been taken off of the nearly obliterated battlefield. He had slept straight through the next three days, only briefly waking up once on the second day, and after giving the Hokage a very quick report, he had fallen asleep again. It was honestly surprising, for with as much damage as he had taken, it was astonishing that he was even alive, and even the young Captain's healing factor was hard pressed to even attempt to undo all of the damage to his body.
All in all, the blonde had been allowed to leave the hospital after a mere five days of mandated bed rest, and was granted a subsequent week of recovery leave in the meantime, before he would resume his normal duties in the ANBU Corps. He had also found out that the Hokage had raised the late Shimura Danzo's rank from A to S-Rank in the bingo book, due to his resurrection abilities that he had gained from the ten (now destroyed) Sharingan eyes that had been implanted in the man's arm, and the other one he had in his eye, and had deposited a very generous amount of money into the overworked blonde's account, paying him for the success of an S-Ranked mission itself.
Unfortunately though, the mission was still officially marked as a failure, since the parameters of the mission had been to not only defeat and either capture or kill the wayward Shimura, but to retrieve the scroll that had the Sanbi sealed inside of it. This bothered Naruto a great deal, and he frowned as he lay in his bed, absentmindedly stroking the long red hair of the woman currently laying her head on his defined chest. He could care less about the mission success rate he had maintained until now, records were constantly being broken, and he was sure someone would eventually beat his. No, what bothered him was the man that had stolen the Sanbi from his clone.
It was the second time he had encountered the strange people who wore the black coats with red clouds, and both times it had been in pursuit of a Biju. He had asked his Hokage about it, and while he was sure that the old man knew something about it, the Sandaime had refused to tell him, informing him that his old teacher and Godfather, Jiraiya, would be returning to the village soon, and that he would fill him in on everything.
That was fine, he could accept that. He trusted his Hokage explicitly, and if he wasn't telling him, then there was a damn good reason for it. That just gave him more time to train and to hone his abilities. This last fight had shown him where he was lacking, and much to his chagrin, even for as strong as he was against an S-Class enemy he was nothing. Even thinking back on his fight with Danzo, he was sure he would have lost if the man hadn't literally gone insane from the trauma of dying so many times in such a short time. Once again, he had fought a much stronger enemy, and he only just won because of luck. He needed to be strong, dammit, so that when his luck ran out, he would still come out on top.
He had people to protect now. That isn't to say that he didn't before, but as he looked at the sleeping form of his girlfriend, the phrase had different meaning. He would currently rather die than have something happen to his Tayuya. He thought back, and smiled as he remember how this who thing had finally been pushed into motion, only a few days prior.
Flashback
Naruto let out a groan as he woke up, his muscles aching in protest from the few days of complete and utter lack of activity, damn he was stiff. He moved to bring his hands to his face, only to find that his left arm was trapped under something and he couldn't move it. Rubbing his eyes lightly with his other hand, and looking over to his unresponsive limb, he was greeted with a sight that was somewhat surprising to him, gazing down at the sleeping form of his foul mouthed, red headed friend and roommate, Tayuya.
He had to admit, she still somehow managed to look cute, half laying and half sitting in the chair closest to his bed, his hand clutched in her own as if she was afraid that he would float away if she let go. Her hair was in disarray, and he could tell by her slightly puffed up nose that she had been crying, recently. Her shirt was wrinkled, and he couldn't help but think that it looked like she hadn't slept in days. He decided to let her sleep, and simply just watched her. It touched him that she was here, showing how much she cared for him. Yeah, he could let her sleep, she deserved the rest. Slowly leaning back, Naruto closed his eyes and raised his arm to rest behind his head, gently squeezing her hand that he held in his as he did so.
"…Naruto? Please tell me that was you and that I didn't just imagine it." The blonde's eyes snapped open, his head snapping over to look at her, vary aware of the hand that was getting crushed in hers as the redhead in question slowly raised her head, her eyes meeting his, chocolate orbs full of concern meeting the slightly confused ones of electric blue.
"Yeah, Tayuya. It's me." He found himself crossly unprepared for the slap that connected with the side of his face, hard enough to turn his head and make his head spin. As the Uzumaki moved his head back, already sucking in a breath to berate the woman for hitting him, he was slammed into by the whole of the girl, and he found himself pulled into a hug, the usually fiery redheads face tucked into the crook of his neck. Naruto, his mood instantly changed as he felt her literally shaking in his arms, did the only thing he could, he held her, and let her softly cry into his shoulder.
He had never seen Tayuya like this before, and he had never thought that he would either. It just wasn't like her to act so vulnerable and defenseless, not like the girl he had come to know. The Tayuya he knew was strong, brash, and was always looking for a fight, but this one… this one was different. He was seeing a completely new side of her as she held onto him for dear life as she choked back tears, mumblings things into his shoulder he couldn't make out. So he held her, softly stroking her back and making a gentle 'shh'ing noise in her ear as he did so.
It had been several minutes before Tayuya pulled herself from the pulled herself from his shoulder, but remaining sitting on the side of his bed, their bodies' mere inches apart, as she pulled one of her hands up to part her hair, softly tucking it behind her ear. She looked at him, their eyes once again meeting, but before Naruto could comment on it, he found a fist planted half-heartedly in his chest. "Shithead…don't ever, EVER, go out and try to die on me again, or I swear to Kami I'll kill you myself." Tayuya softly growled out, accentuating her words by lightly hitting him in the chest.
"Ow, ow! Injured recently, ow! Bring back the other Tayuya! The one who was worried about me, she was gently with me, at least!" Naruto joked at her, freeing one of his arms from her grasp, and stopping her arm from hitting him again by grabbing it around her wrist, bringing his other hand to the side if her face, cupping it lightly, and rubbing his thumb across her cheek, wiping away one of the tears that was all too obvious to the redhead. Their eye contact never wavering, and as Tayuya herself completely gave up her halfhearted struggle in his arms, the Uzumaki heir spoke once more, placing any inhibitions about what the redhead was planning to the side with his next words. "I'm not going anywhere, Tayuya."
Maybe it was the way that he said it. Maybe it was the last straw the broke the metaphorical camel's back on her buildup of feelings. Hell, maybe it was the combination of him fixing her flute in a gesture of kindness and then her finding him broken and battered after fighting for his life soon after. Tayuya didn't know what it was in that moment exactly, but later on when she'd look back on it, she didn't really care. In that single moment, all that mattered was that he was there, he was alive, and she knew he cared for her just as much as she did him, if not more so. Tayuya's final inhibitions had fallen, her walls destroyed by the blonde haired and blue eyed Captain, and she didn't care in the slightest.
All these thoughts rushed through her mind in the matter of seconds it took for their lips to connect, their faces having been inching forwards and towards each other as soon as Naruto had finished speaking. Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned her head to the side, Naruto doing the same as he released her arm, his hands finding her waist as he pulled her closer, his own eyes closing in the process. The first kiss didn't last all that long, being merely a chaste one at best before Tayuya pulled back, her arms still wrapped tightly around the blondes neck. "Don't scare me like that again, Shithead." She said, her voice barely above a whisper, pleading almost as she dove back in, the blonde smiling softly as he closed the distance himself.
"No promises."
End Flashback
Naruto smiled down at the redhead laying on him, noticing that she had woken up during his musing, as she raised her head to look at him, resting her chin on his kef pec, and grinning up at him. "'Mornin, Shithead." She said simply, simply enjoying the feel of him running his fingers through her hair in the early morning light, and pouting slightly as he paused, raising himself up slightly, leaning on his elbows as he looked at her, and she noticed that for the first time in a few days, all the color had returned to his cheeks, and he had the old mischievous glint in his eyes that she had come to enjoy over the last nine months that she had been living with the blonde.
"Good morning, Tayuya." The Captain of the Seventh Division grinned, happily sitting up all the way, playfully dumping the woman off of him, and flexing his arms, inspecting himself briefly. "I feel like I'm finally back at one-hundred percent! I'm back at the top of my game, and that means I ca-mmph!" Naruto was caught off guard as his new girlfriend latched her mouth onto his, her hand finding his chest, and pushing him back down onto the bed, before she pulled back, grinning at the blonde and letting out a small wink as she lowered her mouth to his earlobe, whispering in it softly, yet still in excitement.
"There's only one fuckin' thing that you're going to be doing right now, Shithead. And it ain't fuckin' training…" She trailed off softly, before biting the man's earlobe gently as she mover her legs over to straddle him, on hand on either side of his head. "…Though I guess you could consider it a workout." She pulled back, grinning at the dazed look the blonde had on his face. She was doing a pretty good job at attempting to be sexy, if that was anything to go by. This was the first time she was attempting to be like this for someone else, all of the other little "flings" she had had before being nothing but fleeting moments of pure physical pleasure for her. But even she had to admit to herself, she loved the rush she got as she watched the usually powerful and collected blonde become putty in her hands.
Naruto had finally managed to shake the brief moment of euphoria he had gotten from the woman from his system as his mind cleared, and he gazed into his (soon-to-be) lover's eyes, before he made his decision. He knew the only two things he needed to know. He cared for Tayuya, and she cared for him. It didn't matter where she was from, that she was formerly an enemy, nothing. He chuckled to himself as he rolled them over, grinning at the surprised face she had as he took charge, placing a hand on the side of her face as he leaned in to place a tender kiss on her soft lips, pulling away to rest his forehead on hers, feeling her breath against his lips, in those short, hitched breaths that showed him just how long she had wanted to do this. He kissed her again, closing his eyes as both members gave into their feelings, their hands beginning to roam each other's bodies as their moment together heated up through their joined passion.
Naruto grinned, letting out a small gasp as her hand found its way to the southern end of his body, but no less enjoying the feelings she was eliciting from him, and making a mental note to return the favor. He could definitely get used to this. He had another day off after this, and if he was being honest with himself, this was one helluva good way to spend it, and he couldn't think of a reason to not to, not that he was looking.
Naruto stood in his room, looking over himself in the mirror as he finished dressing himself, before glancing towards the window, and idly noticing that it was still quite dark outside. It was still fairly early in the morning though, so it was to be expected. Looking down at the mask in his hand, he looked into the slitted eyeholes of the mask, his eyes taking in every contour of his new mask, brushing his hand over it, feeling the hard yet smooth material seemingly glide under her fingertips. The blonde haired shinobi sighed softly to himself once, letting out the puff of air softly so as not to wake the sleeping member in the room, before fitting the predatory-feline themed mask over his face, locking it in place and noting that just like his old one, it was a perfect fit. It had been over two months since he had rejoined ANBU after recovering from his fight with Danzo, but he still wished he had been able to preserve his original mask.
Lynx moved to the side of the desk, grabbing the sheathe blade that was Kaze no Karitoriki, sliding the sword over his shoulder and latching it into place before he walked silently over to the side of his bed, leaning down and brushing a finger across the sleeping face of the former Oto-Kunoichi, and brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear, and after pushing his mask to the side of his face, he leaned down and planted a soft kiss against the top of her forehead, turning and replacing his mask before he opened the window and jumped into the sill, freezing at the sound of a quiet voice behind him.
"Be safe, Shithead." Lynx looked over his shoulder, looking back at the red headed kunoichi who was sleepily sitting up and looking at him. Had she been able to see under his mask, she would have surely noticed the small smile that spread across Lynx's mouth, before he disappeared in a flash of dark blue, the window shutting after him, as Tayuya laid back down to sleep, pulling the pillow tighter into her grasp and cursing softly to herself. Why did her idiot have to make her feel like a little girl with a crush?
Lynx appeared inside the ANBU headquarters, smirking to himself at the nickname his girlfriend had given him so long ago, and absolutely refused to change. It was ironic, he thought as he walked through the compound to Seventh Division Barracks, that it was in actuality a nasty name, but she would use it as a term of endearment. He knew she only meant it as a joke, so he didn't really mind. He was honestly happy with the way things were going between the two of them, even if they had only decided to 'become official' a little over a week ago, and there were a lot of things he had come to grow fond of about her, the least of which was how she would put on a forced tough exterior that would crumble away when she knew they were alone, or sharing a moment.
That isn't to say that he wanted her to completely change into a softie on him, he had grown to love the woman with the fiery temper who would jump at the slightest provocation and fight anyone who dared to doubt her. That was the woman he had come to care for, not some weak minded woman who was three steps away from being a civilian with an inferiority complex. She was smart, independent, and able to take care of herself, and most of all, she cared for him just as much as he cared for her. Tayuya had proven that to him in her own unique, curse filled way, and that was all he could ask for.
Lynx was pulled from his thoughts as he opened the door to the Seventh Division's Captain's office, pushing aside his thoughts of home and returning to his working mindset as he took in the neat and orderly office, with the small, neat pile of papers on the corner of his desk with an appraising eye. His Lieutenant, Boar, boar had done a fantastic job of running the division while he was gone, and Lynx was reminded of why he had chosen the man to be his second in command, and the smooth 'test run' of the division had only cemented the idea further into his mind. When Lynx finally left the Corps., he was going to recommend Boar as his replacement for division Captain, just as his old Captain, Cat, had done for him.
That isn't to say that he was planning on leaving any time soon, though. However most ANBU members, regardless of rank, tended to be phased out of the program after about five years, give or take. This was largely due to the psychological stress the division's work put upon the members. Each team member of an ANBU unit had to go through rigorous physical and mental training to even call themselves an Agent, including being tortured in varying degrees (though this was to prepare them for what to expect if they were captured by an enemy force) .
A person's psyche could only take so much punishment before it snapped, and the black ops division had personal Yamanaka members dedicated to evaluating the men and women of the program so that they could get any member out before they snapped. If wasn't the goal of the program to return broken, trauma laden Ninja's to the usual workforce of the village, but it happened every now and then. Hatake Kakashi was a perfect example of this, though the man did a very good job of hiding his PTSD from the general public. However, if you had talked with the man for long, or known him personally, it was blatantly obvious by his mannerisms and his inability to move on from the past. Seriously, the man spent his every waking moment at the memorial stone, lamenting about the past, unfortunately able to move on.
Everyone in the village, and the Ninja and ANBU forces themselves, found a way to deal with their stress. Lynx himself dealt with it with the things he had seen and some of the more horrific things he had done by more or less splitting himself down the center. To him, his off-duty, honor bound and eccentric self was Naruto, while the mission essential, cold and calculating man was Lynx. He was able to distinguish easily between the two mindsets, and he knew when to employ each one. It was one of the first things Jiraiya had taught him.
Lynx made a mental not to thank the grown and self-proclaimed Super Pervert. The man had been a giant boon to him, and had been there for when he needed him most. And while it was unfortunate that he hadn't seen the man in years, he understood that the man had his own duties to attend to. The man still found the time to write him, though, sending his letters in the form of toad summons from time to time, and giving him the sagely and somewhat perverted advice that Lynx cherished, regardless of whether or not he actually took the advice. His Godfather was there for him, and that was something he would always hold dear to his heart, regardless of whatever came for him, or whatever storm brewed, he could take it.
Lynx looked up at the new entry to his chamber, noting Falcon's arrival and inclining his head, giving the man permission to speak as he knelt before the teen, his head bowed in a respectful fashion as he spoke in the metallic and clipped tone that the ANBU masks were trademarked for. "Lynx-Taichou. Hokage-Sama requests your presence in his office. Jiraiya-Sama has some intelligence he wants you to hear and give your perspective on."
Lynx nodded, and with an absentminded wave of his armored hand he dismissed the kneeling agent who vanished in a brief shunshin. Placing the papers he had been going through on the desk, Lynx stood up before vanishing in the flash of deep blue that was quickly becoming his own moniker.
It sure did make traveling easy, though.
The tree branch shook as the armored foot kicked down upon it, launching the man forward and an alarming speed, two more people stepping on the branches alongside it, propelling them forward as well. The three man cell was on the way to the small town of Chinbaku, a farming village on the near the border of Kusagakure (The Village Hidden in the Grass) and Konoha. The reason for the mission was simple, all trade with the town had ceased suddenly, and while this wasn't too detrimental to the village of Konoha itself, the rate at which all communications had ceased with the village was alarming.
It had been absolutely sudden, and with no warning, and while this was only slightly troubling, it got significantly worse. The Hokage had dispatched a typical Genin squad with a Jounin Sensei out to the town, but that had been over a week ago. It took a minimum of two days to get to Chinbaku from the gates of Konoha, and there had been no word from the team, and this particular Jounin Sensei, Ebisu, while not only a powerful and capable shinobi in his own right, was a man fond of punctuality, if the reports on him were to be believed.
The leader of the of the three man team, the decorated Captain Lynx, while leading the group to Chinbaku, reviewed the facts in his head one more time as he ran, having already briefed his team on the matter yesterday before they left Konoha. He knew Ebisu, the two had met several times as the man was currently the Sensei of the Sandaime's grandson, Konohamaru. Lynx himself had watched the boy a few times, and even come to grow slightly fond of him, often "playing ninja" with the young boy and his two friends Udon and Moegi. All three had been Genin under Ebisu for a bit under a year, and were quite capable for Genin, they should have been fine to undertake a simple 'establishing contact' mission on their own, even without their Sensei. So why had there been no contact?
Lynx sighed, shaking his head briefly as he kicked off of another branch. Worrying about it now would do nothing to change whatever had happened, so he would just have to hurry and get there. Besides, if something was wrong, he was an ANBU Captain, there wasn't much he couldn't handle, and he even had backup in the form of Sparrow and Dog. Between the three of them, there wasn't a lot in the world that would be able to stop them from accomplishing their mission. Turning his head back to the other issue he had been thinking over, Lynx started going over the information he had gotten some two months prior when the Toad Sage had been in Konoha to give the Hokage an update that concerned him in particular.
Flashback
"So just to summarize, there's a group of S-Class criminals that are out collecting the giant ass, super destructive and unpredictable chakra masses we call Bijuu, all of which are currently sealed into a Jinchuriki, which makes me a prime target. However, for a reason we don't yet know, they can't come after the Kyuubi actively until they manage to do whatever it is they are doing with the other Bijuu. This gives me an unknown amount of time before this group, "Akatsuki", decides to actively pursue me to suck the monster from my body, killing me in the process. Oh! And I almost forgot, they're already pissed at me because I threw a wrench in their plans when I killed Sasori and slowed down their capturing of the Sanbi. Did I miss anything?" Naruto finished, slightly out of breath as he stood there, arms crossed with a deadpan look on his face, his Lynx'ed themed mask sitting on the side of his head as he questioned the two other men in the office.
Jiraiya sighed. The young man had or less summed up his entire briefing into a couple of not so eloquent, but no less informative, sentences. "Yeah kid, more or less. Which means that we have to get you up to snuff, and fast. I know you're already strong, but we both know that you're not on an S-Class level yet." At this, the boy's shoulders slumped, ever so slightly. The boy was strong, very strong for his age and was the most mature teen Jiraiya had ever known, but he was still just a teenager, only just turning sixteen a small time ago. Jiraiya crossed the room in a small stride, giving Naruto his trademark grin as he ruffled the teen's hair.
"But don't worry about that, I've got a plan for it. I'm gonna get you up to the same level and higher than I was even able to get Minato! Well, either that or I'll kill you trying!" The Toad Sage and self-proclaimed super pervert laughed to himself. H he knew that Naruto was going to have his hands full with his Senjutsu training, but if anyone could fully master the technique, it would be the blonde haired Captain.
Jiraiya stopped laughing for a moment, before pulling out his notebook and look at the blond with a half serious smirk, "Now, I heard you had a girlfriend?"
Flashback End
Lynx allowed himself a brief smile at the memory, and could honestly say he was looking forward to the training he would be going through with his Godfather. As it was, he was slated to leave in a couple weeks. He would have preferred to leave for Mount Myōboku, the homeland of the Toads, the summoning contract that his father and Jiraiya, and now he as well, were all a summoner of, but Jiraiya had a few last minute things to take care of, so he would have to wait. He was looking forward to the trip, it'd be nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the ANBU for a while, and he would also get to spend some time with his Godfather, which was a plus.
Lynx was yanked from his thoughts as he looked ahead, the town of Chinbaku coming into view, his mindset instantly back to that of the Captain of the Seventh ANBU Division. The first thing he noticed was the severe lack of activity. Though he and his team were still some ways off, they hadn't seen anyone on any of the roads, nor could he confirm a visual on anyone moving about the village. He snapped his head to the side, looking to the agent on his left, barking out swift orders. "Sparrow, I want a visual scan immediately once we are in range. Current range, six-hundred meters and closing."
"Taichou." Sparrow stated simply, the long and dark haired member of the Hyuuga Clan responded, activating his Doujutsu, the Byakugan, though because of his mask a normal person would never have noticed the change. Confirming hid orders had been understood, Lynx turned to the other member of the cell, addressing him in an equal tone.
"Dog. I want a pull perimeter check upon reaching a range of two-hundred meters." Nodding at the clipped 'Taichou' he received from the other member of his team, Lynx turn straight ahead once more before addressing both members of the team. "Upon contact with the town, I will make initial contact and commence the search. Rendezvous ten minutes after contact with Chinbaku, falling back to my position, signified by chakra pulse." Lynx didn't need to wait for a response, as he knew his team had heard his orders, and after many a mission together, they had grown to respect and trust their Captain completely.
Once the three men reached two hundred meters, Dog broke off from the group, heading to the left of the small town, and began clearing the perimeter as per his instructions, vanishing from the other two member's sight. Lynx had a bad feeling about this. Something was off, they were now less than two-hundred meters out and had yet to see any sort of life, and now that he was closer, he could see that something was off about the village's buildings. He was too far to tell, but something definitely wasn't right. This was only confirmed when Sparrow informed him that while they were in range of his Doujutsu, he was unable to verify any living chakra signatures in the town. Lynx confirmed, before he ordered the man to assist in the perimeter check, and Sparrow beat a lead off to the right, disappearing from view right as Lynx himself landed on the roof of the building closest to the edge of the town, and that was when he smelt it.
Rotting flesh. It had a smell that was unlike any other, one that was unmistakable once you had encountered it before. Lynx himself had smelled it before, many times, as had every member of ANBU at some point or another. Agents were killers, but they were humane ones, instructed to always make it so when possible. They were not there to torture and maim, they were the swift and precise scalpel of the Hokage.
So when Lynx landed on the roof of that building, he wasn't initially shocked, it too a lit to shake a Captain, after all, but he was mildly surprised. However, as he watched and waited as the small task force of clones he created began their swift and thorough search of the town, he couldn't shake the feeling that something here was wrong, very wrong. He had seen towns wiped from the map before, hell, he had even participated in razing a village to the ground, and while it wasn't something he was proud of, orders were orders and at the end of the day, he would trust in the judgement of his Hokage.
He blinked in surprise behind his mask when one of his clones dispelled, sending him the memories it had seen over the last few minutes, and then another, and another. Soon, all but one of his clones had dispersed, and Lynx began sifting through the sights that flooded his mind for anything of importance, bile threating to creep into the back of his throat had he not squashed it back down, holding his bearing like the trained professional he was.
There was the scarlet tint of blood on several buildings, almost as if it had been splattered there by someone throwing a can of paint, that was the first thing he noticed, aside from the smell, and while it wasn't particularly alarming, it wasn't a good sign. The next thing his clones had found was a shattered sword, lying on the ground, broken in two, near the severed head of a man, though no body was found. He blinked, sending the sight to the back of his mind, and doing his best to forget the eyes that were still in the sockets, staring at him, the lips pulled back in a silent, eternal scream.
His next clone had found a collapsed building, and upon further inspection discovered the remains of several kunai and shuriken inside of it, all broken beyond repair. But it was the next thing that truly began to alarm Lynx, as the next memory he sifted through was that of a building that had been clearly barricaded, but from the outside, trapping whatever was inside. The building was missing several large chunks, and the roof itself was collapsed, and there were the telltale marks of fire jutsu having been sent into the warehouse, lighting it ablaze. And while that in itself wasn't horrid, when his clone had stepped inside to investigate, Lynx did a very, very admirable job of holding himself together.
Inside the warehouse that had been burnt to a crisp were bodies, masses of bodies. Women, some holding the charred remains of their children, holding their bodies over their children, their bones blackened from the flames and smoke. There were the half decomposed skeletons on Men beating against the doors, now stuck in the eternal attempt to escape and to save their families, chunks of skin hanging from their bodies as their corpses laid upon the floor. The smell was horrible, magnified by the close proximity of the charred bodies, the clone saw one last sight before he dispersed, the burnt body of a woman, still clutching the broken body of an infant in her arms, a small piece of cloth that had gone untarnished hanging over the lower half of the babies mouth, her mother still curled around her as she lie on the floor, covered in soot.
Then the next clone came, and the next, and the next, all filled with similar sights, a skull crushed here, a broken body there, and then something else caught his eye. One of his clones had found the dead body of a raven, a kunai knife sticking out of the body of the deceased bird. His clone had of course freed the bird of the small scroll that had no doubt been the reason that it was killed, and unraveled it. The scroll contained a request for immediate reinforcement, signed by the Jounin of Team Four, Ebisu. It detailed that when they arrived, the town was under siege from an enemy shinobi force, their affiliation unknown, and that they would be attempting to find survivors and evacuate them immediately. The message was dated for two days before the Hokage had sent his team, just under four days ago.
Lynx immediately began to sweat, this could mean war, especially if Team Ebisu had been captured, or worse, considering who Konohamaru was and his relation to the Sandaime. Lynx felt his heart drop at the concept, war was ugly, and while he had never been in once, he had ran enough missions in ANBU to know that widespread combat was a terrible thing. He was already beginning to formulate a plan to track down the missing Team Four, and if they had been captured, to rescue them, when his final clone had dispersed. Lynx's eyes widened behind his mask before he disappeared in a series of shunshins, flying across the town, rushing to the place where his clone had been, one of the only buildings that had remained standing and unscathed from the obvious combat and destruction that had taken place, desperately hoping his clone had merely been caught in a Genjutsu.
Lynx appeared in front of the building, and was frozen, rooted to his spot, all of his training and experience in ANBU and as a Captain leaving him in that brief second as his body broke into a cold, terrifying sweat as he took in the sight before him with horrified eyes. Nailed to the wall by his arms which hung above his head was the broken and bloody body of Ebisu, his hands pierced with Kunai shoved deep through the palms, holding him above the ground. His ever present eyeglasses were missing, and the man's head hung low and forward, his throat cut, the now dried blood having seeped into his shirt. The Jounin's legs had been severed at the knees, his legs completely missing from there down. The skilled shinobi's headband was still tied proudly around his head, though it was dented and scarred, a shuriken actually still sticking out of it.
Tearing his eyes from the dead Jounin Lynx moved his gaze to the body nearest to him, that of the fallen Udon, who was face down in the dirt, his back littered with kunai, and the broken hilt of a katana still clutched in the kid's hand. Udon had been trying to branch out, and in Lynx's own image, had been attempting to learn how to use a blade, the same sword that Lynx had given him a year prior, which now lay broken and useless in his hand. The little Genin had clearly not gone down without a fight, if the blood staining his body was anything to go by. Lynx knelt next to him, and as he rolled the body over to check for vitals, he knew it would be fruitless-Udon's left arm was missing at the shoulder, and even though he checked anyways, Lynx knew he would have bled out long ago.
And then he saw it, leaned up against the wall was the small form of two children, barely into their teens, one in the lap of the other as he held her in his arms. Lynx lowered Udon gently to the ground, doing his best to hold back his tears as he swiftly moved to their side, taking in the scene with wide eyes and a gut wrenching chill falling through his suddenly very stiff and unresponsive body as he forced himself to move. He got to the body and crouched at their side, the fallen form of Konohamaru holding the deceased body of Moegi in his arms.
Moegi's leg had been blown off by a paper seal, the top half of the tag still applied to the upper portion of her thigh, her other leg peppered with shrapnel. She had a hole in her chest where her heart should have been, the very obvious imprint of a fist there, though he suspected she had been dead before that. Lynx moved his eyes to her once soft and kind face, moving his hand to wipe away from her head, and noting bluntly that her neck had been snapped, the bones jutting awkwardly to the side in her throat, and that's when he heard it, and as he mentally pulled himself from his stupor, cursing himself for letting his guard down, he was immediately metaphorically thrown back down as he recognized the voice, hoarse and choked as it was, it was unmistakable, especially when it came from three inches to his left.
"Boss?"
Lynx's head snapped around so fast it hurt, staring into the one remaining eye of Konohamaru, his right one a lost cause as he noticed the senbon jutting from it. Lynx fumbled with his mask for a brief second, dropping it to the ground when he saw Konohamaru's confused look when he saw the mask of the ANBU. Naruto's mind was going a mile a minute as he raised his hand to the kid's cheek, looking him in the eye. Konohamaru, though just barely alive, had seen the signature dull yellow locks of his pseudo-older brother, and recognized him in his final waning moments of life.
"Konohamaru! Thank Kami you're alright, we're gonna get you help kid, don't worry, we'll get you help, you're not hurt that bad really, come on, keep your eyes open, Otōto (Younger Brother), keep 'em open, don't fall asleep…" Naruto was rambling as he pulled the corpse of Moegi off of the boy, and did his best to keep his cool, though he was rambling and he knew it. He fought the urge to widen his eyes and lose it more than he already had though when he got the young girl off of him, failing to notice anything but the gaping hole in the boys lower abdomen. Had he been in a calm state of mind he would have been amazed that the eventual heir to the Sarutobi Clan was even alive, and know that the boy had little chance of survival.
"I tried to-*cough*- I tried, Boss…" Konohamaru wheezed out, Naruto still desperately trying to perform first aide on the dying boy, failing to notice his remaining eye fluttering open and shut, open and shut.
"I know you did, Otōto, I know you did, now come on, keep that mouth shut, save your energy man, we're going to need it for when we get these guys back for this. We'll get them together, Konohamaru, and after that I'll train you up so this doesn't happen again. You wanted to be Hokage, remember? You gotta be stronger than this man, and we'll get there-"Naruto was stopped as he heard a cough and some blood splatted his face, and he stopped what he was doing, grabbing the fallen child's face in-between his hands and looking him in the eye, or attempting to. His eye was closed, a small, but broken smile on his face, blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth.
Naruto simply stared, and looked at the boy, having had him die in his arms. He didn't know how long he sat there, but it was long enough that he didn't register his subordinates landing behind him, and made no move as they approached his still kneeling form. "Taichou?" Sparrow questioned, as he knelt beside his Captain, noting with mild surprise that his mask was off, a serious breach of protocol, while Dog surveyed the area and contained the perimeter.
Naruto, shaken from his dead headed stupor, immediately stood up, his mask replaced on his face with a flash, returning from his shell-shocked state in a matter of seconds as he turned to his team, addressing them in the authoritative and sound voice they knew and respected. "Sparrow, Dog, seal the fallen shinobi into the appropriate scrolls, you know the proper protocol. We return to Konoha immediately. Move." With a clipped "Taichou", both men began their preparations, as Lynx looked over to the side, a glint of metal catching his eye.
As he walked over and picked it up, Lynx felt his rage burning within him, and it took a great amount of self-control for him to not blast off to the North-East towards the nearest hidden village, slaughtering as many as he could before he was taken down. No, this had to be done through the proper channels, and he had to hold himself together in front of his men. That was his duty. He wasn't a loose cannon, no matter how fucking much he wanted to be right now. He'd get his chance, he was sure of that, even if he had to fight the coming war himself, he would return the favor that had been done to him. No one hurt his family, and today Lynx had lost three members of it, and a friend. Heads were going to roll. Lynx marched towards his team, about to begin briefing them for the team's return trip, his left hand clenching around the object in his hands.
It was a beaten and batted Kusagakure headband.
Author's Note:
And that's the new chapter, this was my first hand at darker writing, but I refuse to write a war where everyone goes home happy. That's not how it is. Not in my experience. For those of you who voted for the lemon, I appreciate you all taking the time to vote, and there will be one in the future, I'm not ignoring the poll. I just couldn't fit it into this chapter the way I wanted to. So it'll be in some other chapter, don't worry about it. Anyways, if you take the time to review, I thank you in advance. I appreciate and love all the feedback that I get from you guys, it's how I improve upon my writing and make shit better.
That's all I got. Out.
