Forty-Four: Echoes

"Maybe you were right, senpai," Yamato said, after all the members of Team Seven had had a few too many to drink. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it would have been better if I'd never trained Sakura to be ANBU at all."

No one said anything—they didn't blame him, of course—but they were all wondering if their pink-haired medic would be sitting with them right now if that had been the case.

All but one.

"Do you hear what you're saying?" Sasuke snapped, his Sharingan swirling as he let his drunken fury get the best of him. He would never lose control enough to harm anyone who wasn't an enemy with the Sharingan while drunk, but he was known to be unable to shut his kekkei-genkai off if he was drunk and emotional—which wasn't often for the last Uchiha.

"She didn't want our protection, or our coddling," Sasuke said, fiercely defending the woman he had grown to respect. "She was strong, strong enough to make it on her own, and she doesn't need us dishonoring her memory by making it seem otherwise. You all should have been honored to be on a team with someone like that."

Naruto's eyes widened, surprised that his friend was capable of such an outburst, but then again, Sasuke had always had a weak spot for Sakura, even when they were kids.

Beneath his mask, Kakashi smiled.

"Ino?" Choji called out, softly knocking on her door. "We were going to go get something to eat? Do you want to come with us?"

"No thanks. I'm not really hungry."

Choji didn't need Shikamaru's intellect to know something was off with his blonde-haired teammate.

"I'm coming in."

Ino shuffled off the bed in a hurry, quickly knocking the wad of tissues lying on the counter into a trash bin. She didn't need her friends to see her like this—especially when they were on a mission.

Choji sighed from the doorway. "No one would blame you if you requested to leave this mission, you know. It wasn't fair of them to ask you to come here, of all places."

Ino smiled sadly before going to look out the window and down into the streets of Silver City.

"I didn't want them to have to ask one of her teammates to come back."

She turned, going back to sit beside Choji on the bed. Leaning her head against his shoulder, she closed her eyes.

"Sakura was the one who convinced me to confess to you. Did I ever tell you that?"

Choji shook his head, and Ino let out a sniffle.

"I was so excited. I couldn't wait to tell her when she got back. But now…"

"It's alright," Choji said, holding her closer and letting her cry.

Ino had been woken up in the middle of the night by a loud pounding on her front door. Grumbling about late night visitors, she stumbled out of her bed and into the hallway, not bothering to flip on a light.

To her surprise, on her front step stood a very rough-looking Sasuke Uchiha.

"Sasuke?"

He didn't bother greeting her back.

"Naruto said you should hear it from us. He was going to tell you himself, but…"

Ino frowned. "Tell me what? Sasuke, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Where's Sakura?" she demanded, when he still didn't speak.

"Dead," he said, so abruptly that Ino wasn't sure she'd heard him.

"What?"

"Sakura was killed in the line of duty three days ago on a mission in the Land of Silver. We just thought, since you were her best friend, that you should hear it from one of us."

"No," she whispered. "You're lying."

"I wish," Sasuke muttered, so soft Ino wasn't sure if she'd imagined it.

"You're lying!" she screamed, reaching out to grab onto Sasuke's arm and pull him back. "Bring her here right now! I want to see her!"

"Ino," he said sharply, grabbing her forearms tightly to prevent her from lashing out at him.

"That's not possible! She can't be dead, she's a part of Team Seven! The strongest team to ever live! You guys were supposed to keep her safe! Why wasn't someone with her? Where was Kakashi? Where were you? She was always complaining about how you two would always throw yourselves in front of attacks meant for her! You were always protecting her, so why weren't you there?"

Sasuke didn't answer. Instead, he looked at her with red eyes—eyes that were starting to turn.

"No," she whispered, as the spin of the Sharingan lulled her into a false sleep.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said, closing the door behind him.

When Ino woke up in the morning, she was sleeping under the covers of her own bed, and for a wonderful minute, she thought the previous night's ordeal had all been a dream.

"Ino?" Choji said, gently pushing her door open as she started to stir. "Are you alright? Shikamaru said I should probably come stay over here, considering…Well, I hope you don't mind."

"So it wasn't a nightmare, then?"

Choji shook his head. "I'm sorry."

The longhaired brunette sighed, but he didn't move to get up, instead letting Ino cry on his shoulder for as long as she needed.

A few minutes later, Shikamaru poked his head in to check and see if his teammates were coming to dinner, but Choji just shook his head gently.

"I guess it's just us," Shikamaru said, turning back to his girlfriend, who had stayed to help Konoha out on the mission.

Temari nodded. "Ino still needs some time. Sakura was her best friend, after all."

The brunette shinobi inclined his head. "Yeah. It's probably best this way, though."

Temari looked at him with a questioning glance.

"There's something I want to check out."

"You asked to see me?" Shikamaru said lazily, stepping into the Hokage's office. "Master Jiraiya? Where's Lady Tsunade?"

The white-haired man sighed, motioning for Shikamaru to sit down.

"There's something you need to know."

"Is it about the Land of Silver mission?"

Jiraiya nodded slowly.

"What happened?"

"Kakashi's team went and found the rebels using the information we gave them."

"And?" Shikamaru prodded, not liking the direction this was headed.

"Kakashi and Sakura snuck into the camp, but they were detected as they were leaving and had to fight their way out. In the process, Sakura Haruno was killed in action."

The brown-haired genius was stunned into silence. His mind was reeling. He never imagined any of the Konoha 12 dying, but he especially never pictured any of Team Seven being killed. They were too strong to let that happen.

"W-what?"

Jiraiya nodded. "I couldn't believe it either."

"She was with Kakashi? What could have happened?"

Jiraiya slid a folder across the table. "This is Kakashi's mission report. It seems some unusual things happened to them on their mission."

"You want me to look at it?"

"You're the sharpest mind Konoha has now. I'm not saying there's anything to find, but the fact that two agents as good as Kakashi and Sakura were detected and defeated doesn't sit well with me. I know Tsunade would say the same thing if she were here."

"Where is she?"

"Shizune is taking care of her. As you can imagine, the news came as a shock. She—well, never mind."

"She what?"

Jiraiya just shook his head.

"Master Jiraiya, I need to know. If there's something wrong with the Hokage, the village could be in danger, and no one—including yourself—can take that on alone. So if there's something wrong with Lady Tsunade, tell me."

The white-haired sannin sighed. "I don't think it's as permanent as when Dan died, but it seems Tsunade's fear of blood has returned. That's why Shizune is with her now. She's getting therapy, so until she's fit to return, I'm acting Hokage. Although, if you don't mind, I'd like to keep this between as few people as possible. I know there's been peace lately, but I can think of a few enemies who might be tempted to attack us if they knew the Hokage and the great Team Seven were out of commission."

"Man, this really is a mess, isn't it? What a drag," he muttered, stepping out into the cool nighttime air.

"What is it, loser?" Sasuke asked, but his heart wasn't into Naruto's and his normal banter, even if the blonde had been impatiently and obnoxiously pounding on his door a little harder and longer than necessary.

"I'm, uh, getting everyone together. Team Seven, I mean. It's time we started training again."

"Why?"

"Because we're the strongest ninja in the village, and it's our duty to protect it and those we care about. We can't just sit around moping any more. We have to move forward."

Sasuke stared at his best friend in shocked silence. He had expected Naruto to sit around and act depressed the longest—besides maybe Kakashi—but he hadn't expected the blonde to be the first one to try to shake them all out of their stupor. Maybe he really had matured.

"What?" Naruto asked. Sasuke was looking at him like he'd grown another head.

"Nothing," Sasuke said, shaking his head slightly. "It's just…you might actually make a good Hokage after all."

"So this is the one you've been tailing?" Shikamaru asked, nodding toward a dark-haired man sitting at the bar.

Temari nodded. "I've been keeping tabs on him after I got a tip from Osaki, that guard that Captain Yamato spoke highly of. Apparently they've suspected him of rebel activity for a while now."

"And you can confirm it?"

"Well, you know how hard it is to confirm something in our line of work. But I'd be willing to bet a mission on him working with the rebellion."

"Right. And you and Osaki think that he'll be making a move soon?"

Temari shook her head. "I think he's more of a messenger type. But he hasn't done anything since I've started watching him so if he's going to report, he's going to do it soon."

"Okay," Shikamaru said, "I'm going to follow him. I'll leave the rest up to you. If I don't check in for three days you can come after me."

"Three days! Shika, what are you expecting to find?"

The brunette sighed. "I suppose there's no slipping it past you that I'm up to something else, huh? Troublesome."

Temari grinned. "Well, I am the only one who can keep up with your stupid mind."

Shikamaru pulled a tattered folder out of his vest and slid it across the table toward the blonde Suna kunoichi, who gave him a questioning glance.

"This is Kakashi's mission report. There are some things that don't add up."

"Like the fact that shinobi of Kakashi and Sakura's caliber ran into such trouble?"

"So that's been bothering you too, huh?"

Temari nodded. "There's something slightly off about this whole mission. I feel like we don't have all the information."

"You suspect a traitor?"

Her eyes met his. "I didn't go that far. But you do?"

The brunette genius lowered his eyes. "I don't know yet. I've come up with a lot of explanations, but none of them will make much sense if I can't narrow down some of this stuff Kakashi talked about."

"I don't like the fact that they have that weird mind genjutsu user. That seems like a combination we haven't faced before outside of an Uchiha."

"Yeah, and even the Sharingan didn't pick anything up. This really is troublesome."

"Well, if anyone can figure it out, it would be you," Temari said with a light smile. "Don't worry about things here. I can take care of it."

"I'm not sure how much help the rest of my team will be."

Temari smacked his hand with the folder. "Ino never should have been stationed here. It was too soon. How would you feel if you had to go to a place where Choji had died? Besides, when push comes to shove I know I can count on them. I'm just going to make it so I don't have to."

Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his now slightly sore hand. "Alright. I'll leave the Sasakis to you, then."

Temari nodded. "Good luck. And Shika? Be careful."

He inclined his head. "Right. Same to you."

Two days had passed since his dinner with Temari. Shikamaru knew that he would have to report to her soon or she might come looking for him. So far, nothing had happened, but he didn't want to give up on the mission just yet. He couldn't put his finger on it, but Shikamaru had the feeling that something big was going to happen if he would just stick around a little longer.

The man had moved slightly out of the city to a poorer area. Shikamaru wasn't really sure he could call it a town, but it seemed to have a community of people living in it. He suspected that if anyone in close proximity to Silver City wished to throw their lot in with the rebels it would be these people, however.

He was just about to sneak off to contact Temari when he hit the jackpot he'd been waiting days for. The man appeared to look cautiously around him before slipping off into the woods. Shikamaru waited thirty seconds before leaping quietly into the trees and following. Temari had already determined that the man wasn't a shinobi, so as long as Shikamaru kept his chakra use low, he wouldn't be able to detect it.

"Did you bring it?" he heard an unfamiliar voice asking. Shikamaru crept forward on his tree branch so that he was able to see the dark-haired man he'd been tailing and the blonde he was talking too.

"Yes. These are the names of all the citizens of Silver City that would take our side if the rebels attack."

"Good," the blonde said. "I will take this to the Captain. He will be pleased with your work."

The other man snorted. "That Kaoru. He thinks he's such a hotshot now that the leaders have noticed him."

That caught Shikamaru's attention. Kaoru was the name of the Captain that was behind the majority of Kakashi and Sakura's troubles in the Land of Silver.

"Yeah, and really it was just pure luck," the blonde grumbled.

"I'd say it was a little more than luck," the dark-haired man laughed. "But I know what you mean. It could have easily been one of us."

"It should have been one of us! If that Copy Ninja and the rest of those Konoha brats had fallen into our laps we never would have let them escape once, let alone multiple times!"

"Well, he got 'em in the end."

"Yeah, sure, he got what he needed, but we haven't gotten any results. We're still completely in the dark on how much information Sasaki has on us."

That gave the dark-haired man pause. "Kaoru hasn't been able to get any information?"

The blonde shook his head. "No. Taya has been very frustrated. Well, I should get back. But Kaoru says you're to stay here and keep a lookout for us. But lay low and make sure you aren't followed. If there are still Konoha ninja around they could have eyes on you."

"Right. I'll see you soon."

"It's nearly time."

The blonde man left, and the dark-haired one waited a few minutes before heading out of the woods. Shikamaru stayed put, shifting back to lean against the tree trunk. His mind was whirling around at speeds even he struggled to keep up with, so he closed his eyes and brought his hands together like he used to do to think as a child.

Think. Weed out any unnecessary information. Think. Breathe. Which path makes the most sense?

His eyes snapped open.

"No way," he whispered. "Saku...ra?"

"Any progress?" Kaoru asked as a dark-haired woman with red lips and a hooded cloak shut the door behind her and locked it. "Taya?"

She glared, and even Kaoru couldn't suppress the chill that ran through him at the sharpness of her yellow eyes.

"She has proven…more resilient…to my techniques than I anticipated." A feral grin spread across her face. "I knew she would be a formidable opponent when she broke through my newly improved barrier, but I never expected that little girl would be so hard to crack."

Kaoru opened his mouth to speak, but a long finger to his lips silenced him.

"But don't worry, my dear Kaoru. Her chakra control is nearly perfect and her strength immense, but no one can stand up to my barrage forever."

~A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about the funkiness of the past few weeks' updating schedule and the reviews! For some reason, I wasn't getting email notifications on my phone until sometime after I published Chapter 43. I tried to go back and reply to reviews (including those I missed from Ch 42) but if I missed yours, sorry! My email's still being sort of stupid, but at least now I know to look out for it. Hopefully I get it all straightened out soon!