The day had started out so calm and bright. The sun was shining in the sky, but a cool breeze kept the village from getting too hot, a sign that summer was officially ending. Konohamaru had managed to finish a D rank with his team and Fujita-san was pleased with his perfectly weeded garden. Ebisu-sensei had promised to teach them each a new jutsu as a reward for how hard they had been working at their D ranks lately. Konohamaru had been looking forward to the training, intent on doing his best so that he could become as strong as Naruko-nee-chan. Konohamaru knew that Naruko had left the village for a few days on a training trip, and he was excited to see her progress once she returned and show her his growth as well.
Konohamaru had looked up to Naruko for years, choosing her as his role model and ultimate goal. When he had first met her, Konohamaru had been happy to finally have someone else around that knew what it felt like to be related to a Hokage. For his whole life, Konohamaru had always been treated differently because he was the Sandaime's grandson. Naruko was the daughter of the Yondaime and, like him, she wanted to break out from the shadow of the Hokage. For years, Konohamaru had been stuck in his privileged role as the "Sandaime's Honorable Grandson" without knowing how to break away from the title. But Naruko had changed all that with a few words.
"I don't care about that Honorable Daughter crap. Everyone's gonna know my name because I'm gonna be the first and greatest female Hokage, dattebayo!" she had declared just before being hauled away for drawing graffiti all over the Hokage Monument. From that moment, Naruko's words, nindo, and actions became Konohamaru's. He did everything he could to get stronger like her and set himself apart from his grandfather's legacy (minus the pranks on innocent villagers).
"Ebisu-sensei, can we have lunch before we start training?" Udon piped up with a loud sniff as they were leaving the mission assignment office.
"I don't see why not," Ebisu agreed.
"Does that mean you're paying, Ebisu-sensei?" Moegi asked with a catlike grin.
"Why would I pay when you all just got paid for your mission?" Ebisu pointed out and adjusted his shades.
"We're genin, Ebisu-sensei! We barely make anything from D ranks! And shinobi tools aren't cheap," Konohamaru pointed out with a pout.
Ebisu had been about to reply, but his words were cut off by a loud explosion to one of the buildings along the main street. Konohamaru lost his balance as the ground beneath him started to quake and chunks of the building fell to the street below. Konohamaru looked around as the people in the streets started to flee in all directions, some shielding their heads with their arms. "Konohamaru," Ebisu called out as he pulled the boy up from the ground.
"Ebisu-sensei, what's going on?" Udon asked and looked around with panic building in his eyes.
"The village must be under attack," Ebisu surmised after having a look around. In the distance, they all heard more explosions going off. Immediately, the screams from frantic crowd of people fleeing for their lives grew in volume.
"What do we do?" Moegi asked, her eyes wide in panic.
"What you were taught to do in the Academy. Genin are to help with civilian evacuation," Ebisu answered in a calm yet stern voice.
"What about you, sensei? I want to help," Konohamaru declared.
"You can help by getting the civilians off the streets and to safety."
It had been a hard thing to hear, but it had been Ebisu's final word on the topic before he left to join a group of passing jounin. Konohamaru had looked to his fellow teammates in the hopes that they would be on his side, but then Udon said, "I'll head to Block A to help with the evacuation there."
"What? Why would you want to settle for evacuation duty when we could be fighting?" Konohamaru pointed out.
"Because Ebisu-sensei gave us orders, Konohamaru-kun. We're genin. We could end up getting in the way if we try to fight," Moegi explained.
Incensed, Konhamaru wanted to argue further, but it was Udon that stopped him this time. "It's our duty to guide and evacuate civilians. If we don't help them, they could get hurt or die," Udon said, his words being punctuated by the loud roars of a giant, brown dog trampling over several buildings.
Konohamaru watched as a few jounin tried to fight the giant dog but were all easily sent flying. Not even a team of experienced shinobi could take it down. But maybe if he tried his new jutsu… His fists clenched, Konohamaru nodded his acquiescence to his friends. They both looked relieved and nodded in reply before both leaping away to help with the evacuation. Once they were out of sight, Konohamaru took off down the street to where the giant dog was knocking over some more buildings. He could do this… He just needed a shot…
"Oi!"
Mid-step, Konohamaru froze in place. Had he gotten caught already? He hadn't even gotten close to the dog yet! Turning to the side, he watched an older boy walk an elderly lady over to him before practically dumping her onto him. "Hey!" Konohamaru objected, but the older boy was quicker.
"You're a genin. Genin help with civilian evacuation during an emergency," the teen said, a frown on his pale face and his red eyes spinning.
Konohamaru had learned about the different clans within the village while he was in the Academy, so he was able to easily recognize the sharingan. Most of what Konohamaru knew of the sharingan he had heard from Naruko whenever she spoke about her friend…
"Sure thing, Sasuke-nii-chan," Konohamaru said with a growing smile. He was sure that this boy with spiky hair like a duck's butt was definitely the same boy that Naruko spoke about. "Naruko-nee-chan talks about you a lot."
Konohamaru had heard his fair share of Naruko's Sasuke Rants in the past, but as of lately she had only the highest of praises for the older boy. According to her, Uchiha Sasuke was almost as strong and cool and popular as she was.
"Hn," Sasuke barely replied before jumping and leaving Konohamaru to tend to the elderly woman.
Konohamaru wanted to follow the older boy because surely someone strong enough for Naruko to consider them her greatest rival had to be headed towards the real fighting. But before he could, the elderly woman started smacking at his head with an expectant noise. Konohamaru exclaimed in pain while rubbing at the spot that she had struck (how was an old lady so strong?).
"Sasuke left me with you, so I hope you're reliable," the woman huffed. Konohamaru nearly groaned aloud at his bad luck.
~:~
Sakura had just accepted her next patient's file from one of the many hospital nurses when she felt the first set of quakes rock the building. She had been tempted to write off the occurrence as a minor earthquake but knew better when she'd spotted a few trails of smoke rising into the sky. Her first thought was that a serious accident had to have occurred near the marketplace.
"Emi-san, can you check to ensure that we have some open rooms available just in case anyone is hurt," Sakura told the older nurse. Sakura had wanted to reassure her next patient that someone else would be tending to them but had quickly scrapped the idea when she spotted the giant, orange centipede and brown dog that had just popped into existence. Uttering a soft curse, Sakura started removing her white lab coat to dump in her office on her way out.
"Sakura-san! What's happening?"
"Sakura-san, what should we do?"
Since Tsunade had left the village, both Shizune and Sakura had stepped up to take the reins at the hospital and overlook all day-to-day tasks. Shizune had slipped seamlessly into her increased workload of running the labs and dealing with most of the administrative load. But she had delegated to leave the patient interactions and running the staff up to Sakura. Initially, the increase in duties and responsibilities had been daunting. But after spending an afternoon locked in Tsunade's office familiarizing herself with all Tsunade's files, Sakura had returned to the helm and quickly wrangled her new subordinates.
Even with Tsunade technically back in the village, Sakura and Shizune were still very much in charge. Whenever Sakura thought about her shishou slowly recovering in the hospital's ICU, she felt a pang of sadness and dwindling hope that Tsunade would recover. Sakura could still remember the absolute horror that had filled her when a toad had suddenly popped into the lobby with a bloody, battered, and poisoned Tsunade in its arms. Sakura had immediately pulled Shizune from her lab to join her in Tsunade's operating room because Sakura wasn't about to let anyone remotely unqualified tend to her shishou.
Now, whenever someone had a question or something went slightly wrong, Sakura was the first person that they ran to. It had been daunting to gain so much responsibility practically overnight, but Tsunade hadn't spent the last three years training and preparing her for nothing.
"I want every room that isn't currently housing any critical patients to be prepped for any incoming injured. I'll be leading a team of our most able-bodied staff members to search for any injured that are unable to move," Sakura said, doing her best to channel her shishou as she barked out orders. "Pull any staff that we can spare to help with the preparations. If you're not currently saving a life, you should be getting rooms and supplies ready."
Once Sakura was sure that she could step away from the hospital without it imploding, she left with a small team of medical ninja following her. "I want you all to split into teams of three and take separate divisions to search," Sakura started. "Once you've cleared your section, report back here to help tend to patients."
Like obedient soldiers, the medical-nin bowed quickly before scattering. Trusting Shizune to hold down the fort, Sakura turned and headed for where she could see a few shinobi trying to tame the giant animals. Sakura took the rooftops, several questions running through her mind. The sheer size of the animals meant that they had to be summons. So where was their summoner? Who was it and what were they hoping to accomplish?
Just seconds after closing in on the rampaging insect, Sakura watched a few chunin get knocked back and away by the centipedes many legs. Just a few years ago, the sight of this beast would have had her running away, hopelessly scared and hoping that Sasuke-kun or Kakashi-sensei would get to her before she could become the monster's next meal. But now, Sakura just felt pissed. Leaping from the roof with a loud cry of "Shannaro!", Sakura pulled back her fist.
She always felt a sense of pride whenever she used the monstrous strength that she was becoming known for. Taking down a challenging opponent with a single punch was the most apparent sign of her growth and progression. At first, she had been hesitant to utilize her physical strength in battle. Her mother's warnings had seen to that.
"You won't find a good husband if you go around punching things like some sort of barbarian. No man will want a wife that can knock down a tree with her fist."
She was so sure that her mother had been right. After all, Sasuke was from the Uchiha clan, and they were as traditional as it got. So, she had done her best to appear as soft and demure as possible in the hopes that Sasuke would fall for her feminine charms. But then she had seen how taken Sasuke had been with Naruko, who was as far from dainty and feminine as possible. Maybe her mother had been wrong?
When she had started training under Tsunade, all thoughts of becoming a modest housewife had quickly left her head. As expected of someone so strong-willed, Tsunade had bulldozed over Sakura's preconceived notions and replaced them with new ideas and definitions of strength and worth. Sakura had never felt so comfortable in her own skin. Her mother hadn't been pleased that her only daughter was now modelling herself after the middle-aged and still single Senju Tsunade, but her words fell on deaf ears. Sakura figured that it was harder to hear her mother's criticisms through the sounds of trees crashing to the ground and the ground cracking beneath her fists.
Sakura could feel the astounded gazes of the chunins around her, their eyes looking between the unmoving centipede and Sakura's pristine form. The balloon of pride in her chest swelled a bit but deflated quickly when she heard a familiar voice say, "It's not often that someone beats me to the punch."
Doing her best to stifle the urge to roll her eyes, Sakura shot Uchiha Shisui a cool look of disinterest from over her shoulder. "Then maybe you should be quicker next time," she replied.
She didn't think that it was possible, but the grin on his face widened. "Yes, ma'am," he said, giving her a jaunty salute.
Sakura did roll her eyes this time just before leaping away. Uchiha Shisui was such a deviation from what she was used to from Uchiha clan members. She was used to Sasuke's dismissive rudeness or Itachi's polite indifference. But Shisui's amicable flirtatiousness left her stumped. She had no idea what she'd done to garner his attention, but she hoped that he got over it quickly and moved on to the next girl that captured his fancy.
~:~
Shisui watched the pink haired medic leap away from rooftop to rooftop as if she couldn't get away from him fast enough. He wasn't offended by her hasty getaway. He preferred to think that she was just rushing off to tackle another behemoth with her incredible strength.
Shisui's early lunch had been cut short when the first signs of the invasion had made themselves known. He'd abandoned his half-eaten meal and practically teleported to the epicenter of the attack. He'd done his best to avoid the fleeing civilians while expanding his senses to the surrounding areas. When he couldn't pick up on any unusual chakra signatures, he'd teleported to one of the taller buildings to get a better view with his sharingan.
A few more explosions had gone off a few streets over while a battalion of unfamiliar shinobi had quickly scaled the stone walls surrounding the village. Mid-leap, Shisui had shed his emotions and embraced an impassive demeanor. He cursed himself for leaving his tanto at home. But even without it, he'd managed to incapacitate three of the invading shinobi before they had even become aware of his presence.
Like his younger cousin, Shisui wasn't fond of killing but was cursed with a proficiency for it. He moved in between the invading shinobi, precise cuts and slices from his kunai felling them while they were still struggling with his many after-images. This went on for a few minutes as he moved along the wall, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. His wished that he could say that he had lost count of how many there had been. But with his sharingan active, he could clearly recall each of his 86 kills.
He was only slightly winded by the end of it, but there wasn't any time to catch his breath. Even from the outskirts of the village, Shisui could hear the loud growls and shrieks of the giant summons as they popped into existence. He was still working through an attack plan by the time he was within striking distance of the creature. To his surprise, he was rendered unnecessary by Haruno Sakura of all people.
Shisui knew of Haruno Sakura, but he couldn't say that he really knew her. He'd heard the rumors on Senju Tsunade's newest student. She could crush boulders with her pinky. She could put a man on death's door with a single punch and then restore him back to perfect health. She was a destructive force wrapped up in a petite and admittedly cute frame.
Shisui's eyes had widened in pleasant surprise as he watched her arc through the air, a look of intense irritation on her face. Naturally, her form was perfect, and it made for an extremely effective blow that had the beast crumpling beneath her fist. Like the chunins that were gathered around, Shisui looked on in awe as she reclaimed her spot on the roof with an air of casualness as if she hadn't just taken down a monster far larger than herself. He could see her already scouting out her next target, her small hands clenching into fists and a fire in her bright, seafoam eyes.
"It's not often that someone beats me to the punch," Shusui had to get out before she could leave.
With his enhanced perception, he could see her cringe slightly before she looked over her shoulder at him. Shisui knew that she wasn't quite fond of him, her previous indifference to his very existence now resembled grudging tolerance since he had asked her out. He guessed that it (and her rejection) had do with his apparent flirtatious reputation. He'd taken the rejection well, not one to get easily offended.
"Then maybe you should be quicker next time," she replied.
Shisui could feel his grin growing to match the spark of excitement that he felt. "Yes, ma'am," he said and saluted. She rolled her eyes at him this time before officially ending their short exchange. The grin he was sporting faltered as he lowered his hand in embarrassment. Did he seriously just salute?
'Stupid,' he mentally chastised himself. Where had that come from?
Still shaking his head at his own cringe-worthy behavior, Shisui turned to leave the area. He stopped cold, however, when he sensed an unfamiliar chakra signature pulsing in code. Shisui knew that he wasn't familiar with the chakra signature of every Konoha shinobi, but he was positive that he would remember a shinobi with chakra like this. Maybe it was a comrade in need of assistance?
Before he could even take a step in their direction, Shisui's attention was captured by another. "Shisui!" Fugaku called out as he landed on Shisui's roof.
"Fugaku-sama, what is it?"
"We need you in Block G. We're trying to evacuate some civilians, but we can't clear a path for them," Fugaku said.
Shisui frowned slightly. "No offense, Fugaku-sama. But can't the police force handle it?" he asked. It's not that he didn't want to help his clan head, but Shisui didn't think civilian evac should be his priority with the police force and many genin available.
Fugaku pursed his lips before sighing. "I can't find most of them," he begrudgingly admitted.
"What?" Shisui asked, pure confusion lighting his features.
Fugaku looked absolutely frustrated by the whole thing as he admitted, "I was on patrol when the first explosion happened. I returned to the compound to round up any stray officers, but most of them weren't there. I haven't been able to find them."
"Not at all?" Shisui questioned. It was one thing to not find them alive, but to be unable to find them at all? "I'll head over there now then. I'll keep an eye out for any of the officers if I see them."
"Good. Have you seen, Sasuke?" Fugaku asked, his mask cracking slightly.
Thanks to Itachi, Shisui was more than aware of the strained relationship between Fugaku and Sasuke. Shisui watched as genuine worry flashed through Fugaku's eyes for a moment before it was effectively buried. Feeling sympathy for the man, Shisui frowned and shook his head. "I'm sure he's fine. Do you want me to bring him over with me if I see him?"
"Yes. If you see him, keep him in your sights. I doubt that he'd appreciate me hovering over him, but he might not mind you," Fugaku said, doing an admirable job of trying to remain aloof.
"Sasuke doesn't need anyone to hover. He's strong," Shisui comforted with a small smile. "But I'll still look out for him."
"Thank you," Fugaku said, sounding far more grateful than Shisui had ever heard him sound before. His clan head left just as quick as he came, looking like a man on a mission (or perhaps a manhunt?).
Shisui frowned deeply, his confusion slowly ebbing away and being replaced by irritation. Just the thought that his clansmen were missing at a time like this left a bad feeling settling in his gut. He had no idea where they were or what they were doing, but he hoped for their sakes that they weren't doing something foolish.
~:~
She had technically given up on the shinobi life over twenty years ago once she had gotten pregnant with Itachi. Someone needed to stay home and raise their son, and she had lost that argument. She loved her son and loved being a mother, so she hadn't fought too hard with Fugaku at the time. However, she had expected to return to active duty once Itachi was old enough to start the Academy. But then Sasuke had graced their lives and that had been the nail in the coffin of her expectations. It was just too much time out of the field- too much time spent with her instincts growing dull.
Mikoto was pleased to see that her instincts hadn't dulled as much as she thought. Granted, she could tell that her opponent was a bit green, unbalanced in his wielding of his twin blades. But she didn't need her sharingan to be able to predict his moves. His youth, ability to become water, and his incredibly sharp swords should have been enough to pose a challenge. But her experience was proving to be too much for him to handle.
"Oi, Kisame! Are you really going to just sit there and watch!?" the young man shouted back towards the blue-skinned man that was watching their fight with an amused grin.
"I helped you find the swords. I didn't say anything about holding your hand while you learn to use them, Suigetsu," Kisame replied and pulled his bandaged sword closer to himself.
When Suigetsu turned his head mid-battle, Mikoto let her sharingan spin to life and quickly arced her sword at the boy's head. Expectedly, her sword met no resistance. 'So it's a natural defense mechanism…'
"What are you doing? You do realize that you can't hurt me that way, right?" Suigetsu asked her as if she were a particularly slow child. But when he saw her eyes, he paused. "What's up with your eyes?"
"It's the sharingan. This just got interesting," Kisame said and leaned in to get a better look.
"Sharingan?" Suigetsu repeated before charging in again.
Mikoto was surprised that the older man didn't explain anything to his comrade, but she wasn't about to complain. She locked eyes with the boy, her sharingan quickly spinning and placing a genjutsu over the boy. With him now under her illusion, it was too easy to channel her lightning release through her blade and stab her sword through the boy's back. Her lightning spread throughout his body, causing his skin to start dripping into puddles at his feet.
Unlike her eldest, Mikoto would consider her genjutsu skills to be slightly above average. She had tried to make up for this by using the strongest genjutsu that she could. But at the sight of the boy's comatose and still sparking form, she feared that she may have gone overboard.
"He's still got a lot to learn," Kisame said with a casual shrug before jumping down from his perch. "Perhaps I'll be a better match for your skills," he said with a sharp grin.
"Perhaps," she allowed.
When she clashed blades with the much larger man, Mikoto could easily tell that his physical strength outweighed hers. She could see his chakra swirling between him and his sword, his reserves much larger than the average shinobi. And, despite his large stature, he was quite nimble as he ducked and weaved to avoid her blade. She traded an easy opponent for a difficult one.
With a loud roar, Kisame swung his blade down on her head. She had intended to block his blade with her own but ducked out of the way at the last second when she spotted the bandages shift to reveal scales. She turned surprised eyes onot the blade and watched as the bandages fell away to reveal some kind of creature.
"You were smart to dodge. My sword, Samehada, does cut. It shreds," Kisame said and released Samehada's hilt. Suddenly, as if it was unleashed, the navy creature swam through the air with its serrated teeth parted. As she was dodging the sentient sword's tackles, Mikoto spotted Kisame quickly going through hand signs. "Suiton: Bakusui Shouha!" Kisame exclaimed and began spitting out waves of water.
With a chakra enhanced jump to clear the waves, Mikoto felt dismay settle when she took in the sheer amount of water he had produced. His chakra reserves were bigger than she thought. Before she had managed to touch down again, she could already see Kisame blurring through more hand signs. The second he slammed his hand down onto the water, she could see at least five blurs all moving around underneath the surface. Her sharingan allowed her to narrowly dodge one of the blurs, its light blue and watery body arcing through the air and back into the water. Channeling her lightning release through her sword again, she met Kisame's wide grin with a determined glare.
In between dodging or swiping at the stray shark, avoiding Samehada's tackles, and dodging Kisame's heavy melee style of fighting, Mikoto was slowly starting to feel the effects of the fight. She couldn't remember the last time that she had relied so heavily on her sharingan. 'Katon: Ryuuen Houka no jutsu!'
Mikoto watched Kisame duck and dodge her fireballs without much effort. It took Kisame a while to figure out what she was doing, but a thick fog had already started to settle by then. She had taken away his visibility whereas hers was only slightly diminished by the fog. However, she wasn't about to take any chances considering just how much water was still around. Once she had spotted Kisame in the mist, she silently moved in behind him.
She had just pressed her blade to his neck when he said, "An admirable attempt. But there's no way a Konoha nin could beat a former swordsman of the mist at silent killing."
It was her fault. She hadn't bothered to keep up with the bingo books in her retirement. Maybe if she had, she would have recognized him right away. "Hoshigaki Kisame," she breathed as his water clone fell apart in front of her.
"You put up a good fight. I'll give you that much," she heard him say as she felt that scaly sword rest on her shoulder. Her mind was doing a mix of calculating escape routes and probabilities while also saying a silent farewell to her loved ones. She supposed that forty-one years was a long life to live.
"Dynamic Entry!"
Her saving grace came in the form of Konoha's Green Beast himself. She hadn't been able to see much of Guy's boisterous attack, too busy leaping out of Samehada's reach. A new, reinvigorating energy filled her now that she had some back-up. "Uchiha-san," Might Guy greeted when he landed atop the water near her. "Are you alright?"
"Much better now," she replied.
"Oh? Reinforcements finally arrived?" Kisame asked with an easy grin.
"Uchiha-san, would you be my back up?" Guy asked, his eyes still focused on Kisame.
"I'll move as soon as you make an opening," Mikoto replied.
Guy nodded once before taking off towards Kisame. As he engaged Kisame in a taijutsu battle, Mikoto moved along the edges of their fight, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Occasionally, one of the remaining sharks would leap out of the water at Guy, but she was always quick to dispatch them before they could get close.
"This has been amusing, but I think it's time I end this. Before I do, I wonder if either of you can tell me where the kyuubi jinchuuriki is?" Kisame said and clapped his hands together.
"I'd rather die!" Mikoto instantly rejected. She and Kushina had been friends since they were genin on the same team. Even if she had known where Kushina currently was, Mikoto would never betray her best friend.
"Fair enough," Kisame replied. "Suiton: Senshokukou!"
Both she and Guy had to take a step back when they saw another, large wave towering over them. Upon closer inspection, Mikoto could see that it wasn't just water. One thousand sharks created with the water that was drying up under their feet. Suddenly, Guy widened his stance with a focused hum. "Uchiha-san, please move to safety. I don't want you to be caught up in my attack," Guy said as he started to focus his chakra.
Mikoto had initially been skeptical. She was sure that whatever attack he launched, she would be able to avoid it with her sharingan. But when Guy suddenly started glowing green and let out a loud shout, Mikoto wisely ducked out of the way. Her fight had been effectively taken over by Might Guy, who was now shouting, "The sixth gate, Gate of Joy, open!" and leaping into the air.
She had heard rumors about the taijutsu specialist, Might Guy. None of them matched up to the real thing, however. In addition to his strange glow, he was exuding a force that she couldn't readily identify. "Asa Kujaku!" Guy exclaimed as his fists became just blurs and then caught fire as he moved. Her eyes widened as she watched fist-sized balls of fire hit the wave of sharks head on, slowing drying up the water around her. Mikoto couldn't help but be impressed.
Her amazement was cut short, however. Even Guy and Kisame froze in place, their heads snapping to the side just as a blinding light overwhelmed them. Mikoto shielded her eyes, but it barely helped block the white glow from her eyes. The glow hadn't even subsided yet before she felt a heavy pressure send her flying. As she flew and tumbled, Mikoto felt her head collide with something solid and rough before everything went dark.
~:~
Itachi was heavily reconsidering his choice of profession. He had never cared for the fighting and violence that shinobi life called for, but he had long since learned to tolerate it and keep his complaints to himself. It was his future profession that him questioning his sanity. Itachi stood with his arms lax at his sides and his sharingan active as he watched the proceedings from the balcony with the other kage guards. Despite his impassive expression, he felt the overwhelming urge to sigh.
"Let the Hokage lead the charge against the Akatsuki!? Never!" the Raikage shouted as he punched yet another hole into the wooden table.
Despite the Raikage's venomous glares and outraged shouts, Minato remained calm and didn't bother to interrupt A's ravings. Not once had Minato made any moves to insult the Raikage in the three days that they had been here. Itachi had to applaud the man.
"Hokage-dono has the most intelligence on the Akatsuki and its remaining members. Additionally, Konoha was the only village making any efforts to protect jinchuuriki," the newest Kazekage reasoned, his calm the exact opposite of the Raikage's fiery demeanor.
"Surely, you can't expect for the words of a child to hold much weight," Oonoki huffed and glanced at the Kazekage's hat resting on the table next to Gaara. "Title or not."
"Even when he speaks the truth?" the Mizukage spoke up, a brow raised at Oonoki in challenge. "I, for one, recall receiving word from the Hokage quite some time ago about the threat of the Akatsuki. It was my own hesitance to further involve my village in this Akatsuki mess that kept me from responding. What are your excuses?"
'Pride,' Itachi filled in when neither the Tsuchikage nor Raikage answered her. Both men had complicated relationships with Minato due to past conflicts. Rather than set their issues aside for the greater good, both had deigned to ignore the Hokage until they couldn't do so any longer. Itachi's frown deepened.
And so it went for another hour. Despite Mifune's best efforts to mediate, the Raikage's and Tsuchikage's voices were steadily rising until they were the only ones left debating. Not for the first time, Itachi wondered if the Raikage's demand to hold this summit was just his excuse to yell at the other kage as a way to avoid the blame of nearly losing his brother.
"Perhaps it would be best if we adjourn for the day," Mifune said with a deep sigh. The Raikage huffed once before storming off first, his guards right on his heels. The Tsuchikage and Mizukage were next to leave, but the Kazekage chose to approach Minato instead. Not that he expected a sneak attack, but Itachi wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't take up his place at Minato's side.
"I am sorry for the Raikage's stubbornness. I wish that I could say that he'll see reason before this summit is over, but I can repeat myself only so many times," the Kazekage said.
Minato let out a slow exhale. "It's what I expected. I suppose I should be grateful that he's taking this so seriously. The original response that I'd gotten from him… It… left a lot to be desired," Minato said. Gaara nodded once before leaving as well, a bit of pity and understanding in his eyes.
"You're lucky, Itachi," Minato suddenly said once they were alone. "You have yet to make any substantial enemies. I'm hoping that you never have to. Having allies outside of the village makes this job far easier," Minato sighed.
"I imagine it wouldn't take long. Conflict appears to be inevitable in this life we live," Itachi replied.
"True, but perhaps that is how we can come to understand one another."
Itachi had been about to further their discussion but paused when Minato suddenly straightened and took off. Fortunately for him, Minato wasn't running as quickly as he could and had slowed to a stop just outside the doors to the meeting room. Itachi arrived just in time to see a red toad pant through the words, "Minato-sama, the village… under attack." Itachi had barely rested a hand onto Minato's Hokage robes before he was being teleported through time and space.
When they came to a stop, Itachi did his best to shake off his vertigo. But an upset stomach was the least of his concerns when he took in his village. There were clouds of dust still settling over the rubble that they were standing on. If he looked closely, he could identify the crumbling, red walls of the administrative building.
"Kosuke?" Minato's asked, his voice almost devoid of emotion.
"I left as soon as the first explosions sounded. It hasn't even been a full hour yet," the toad replied in shock.
"Minato-san?" Itachi asked, basically pleading to be let go. Minato had barely waved him off before Itachi was leaping over the remains of his village, praying that no one that he cared about was one of the motionless bodies that he spotted buried beneath all the concrete. Fortunately, he could sense Shisui's chakra not far up ahead close to Izumi's. While he was grateful that they were more of less alright, he still couldn't help but worry about-
"Itachi!"
Jerking to a stop, Itachi felt a bit of his panic wane at the sight of his mother running towards him. She was bleeding from her hairline, covered in dirt with tears to her clothes. He met her halfway, fully welcoming her tight embrace. "When did you get back?"
"Just now. Where's Sasuke?" Itachi asked, his eyes moving to his approaching father.
"He was out there. But then we saw the kyuubi," his mother said and pointed out towards the center of the enormous crater that now encompassed most of the village. Itachi felt his heart thump to a stop and sink.
"We were just going to find him," Mikoto continued, but Itachi cut her off.
"I'll find him," he said and left without another word.
It was all so surreal. They had been gone for only three days. They were due back in just a few hours, but it had taken less than an hour to turn his home into dust. And if his mother's account had been correct, then Naruko had been here probably fighting off the Akatsuki. (Itachi wasn't about to delude himself into believing that someone else had attacked the village.) If Naruko had been here, then surely his brother was too.
"Sasuke, promise me that you won't do anything reckless."
At the time, he'd accepted the half-assed promise that Sasuke had given him. He should have done more to ensure Sasuke's safety. But Itachi was sure that nothing short of knocking his brother out and leaving him tied up in an undisclosed location would have kept him from acting rashly for Naruko's benefit.
Had he failed as a brother? When he'd held Sasuke for the first time, he'd promised then and there to always protect his little brother. It didn't take long for him to come to terms with what he would and wouldn't do to keep his brother safe. Needless to say, there wasn't much that he wouldn't do (if there was anything at all). And in the few days that he'd let his brother out of his sight…
Itachi had been slowly moving towards the center of the crater while ignoring the smaller, cracked holes that looked to be punched into the ground and the still blazing, black fires. Beneath the smell of ash, Itachi could recognize the metallic tang of blood. He avoided a few motionless, orange haired Akatsuki bodies, the pit that had formed in his stomach growing by the second. His tentative steps immediately stopped at the sight of a cloakless body laying motionless. He immediately wanted to rush forward, just to assure himself that nothing was wrong, but he hesitated. With his sharingan active, even from a distance he could easily identify the body.
"Fine. I won't be reckless."
Itachi fell to his knees.
~:~
When another member of his pack came back with their tail between their legs, ears tucked close to the sides of their heads, and a low whine in their throats, Kakashi sighed lowly and gave them a consoling pat to the head. They'd been at it for over a week now without much to show for it. Kakashi tossed Bisuke another piece of jerky from his pocket when he saw how disappointed his summon looked at being led along another false trail.
Initially, Kakashi had been far more optimistic. There could be only so many false trails and dead ends before he caught up to whoever it was on the other end. But Sasuke hadn't understated the effectiveness of their jutsu. After over a week of hunting, neither Kakashi nor the pack had been successful.
After the first five days of fruitless searching, the idea to return to the village had popped into his head only to be disregarded even quicker. If there was even a chance that it Obito was alive…
"Boss?"
Kakashi looked down at Pakuun but didn't reply. The pug had been looking increasingly worried the past few days but had refrained from voicing his concerns. Yet somehow, it wasn't necessary. Kakashi knew that he had been running himself ragged, attempting to return to the stamina that he'd had in ANBU. Kakashi was partially offended with himself when he'd discovered just how out of shape he was. Granted, he was still far above the average jounin level. But he couldn't help but be displeased with his body's increasing need for rest. Maybe he was getting old?
"I think it's time to inform sensei. He can provide further instruction," Kakashi said and took a scroll and some ink out of the pockets on his flak jacket.
"And in the meantime, you'll keep searching then?" Pakuun guessed.
Kakashi finished his short, coded message and quickly rolled up the scroll. "I'm sure that you'll be able to find me no matter where I am, Pakuun," Kakashi said with a smile and handed the scroll over.
For several seconds, Pakuun stared down at the scroll with a displeased look on his face. "Have you considered what you'll do if it is him?"
Kakashi felt his heart pound in his chest but kept his face impassive. "If it is, I'll bring him back to the village where he belongs."
"He's been away for this long, Boss. Maybe he doesn't want to return," Pakuun pointed out. Kakashi wiggled the scroll in front of Pakuun's face to wordlessly get his message across. Pakuun softly huffed once before taking the scroll and taking off.
The seeds of doubt that had been forming in his mind since the moment that first started to consider the possibility that Obito was somehow alive were threatening to take root. If Obito was alive, why hadn't he come back to the village? Had he found out about Rin? If he had, why hadn't he come after Kakashi? Kakashi wouldn't object if Obito wished to exact his own revenge. It was the least that Kakashi owed him after catastrophically failing both Obito and Rin.
Feeling the gazes of the rest of the pack on his back, Kakashi softly sighed and let his shoulders relax into a heavy slouch. "We'll take a break before we start again. One hour," Kakashi said reached for his soldier pills.