POV: PFC Sasuke Uchiha USMC
Eyelids, heavy. Muscles, tired. Shower, hot. I step out of said shower and head to a mirror where a few other Marines are, including Shikamaru, toss some cold water in my face and check over my chin and neck area.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Shikamaru says, I turn to him.
"How's that?"
"We have to keep a clean shave at all times, but sf guys get to have facial hair. Like, we look shaved, back home we would have clean shaven faces, but over here, they can see a micro atom of a hair thinking of popping out of our faces." I grab my shaving kit, small bottle of cream, simple safety razor, and go about getting what hair might have grown off my face. Toss more water into my face and rub my chin, can't tell the difference. We both grab our stuff, put them back in our footlockers, and head to the mess hall. Even in the middle of Afghanistan, a hot breakfast is still a god send, and breakfast chow beats whatever the hell public schools call breakfast. A warm serving of blueberry oatmeal, some pancakes, which surprised me, sausage links, a hash brown, and some hot tea, English Breakfast, not my go to, but still good.
"Morning boys." Naruto says as we sit down and start to eat. "You all hear?"
"No, what?" Shikamaru asks, we look at him, even Neji, so I assume he doesn't know.
"They want us in the armory by 08:00, show us a few things." He answers between bits of food, I look down at my watch.
"Shit, it's 07:20." Shikamaru and I start scarfing down our chow.
"Should have come here instead of the showers guys." Neji jokes as they finish up and head off. We finish a few minutes later and head to the armory where a woman waits for us.
"Good morning you two, glad you could join us. Brass wants inventory after being out for a few days." She explains what we have to do and we grab pens and notepads. Naruto checks each serial number for each and every firearm, cross references with a list of names and who was assigned what, if the weapon isn't found, they, sadly, are more than likely dead or missing. Hand off to me, I check for anything that would hinder the performance of said weapon, does it need to be cleaned, did the idiot forget to turn their optic off, if yes replace battery, if no check the life of said battery, if low change. Check the trigger system, if anything is in bad shape, change it. Clean the inside and outside, put it back together and store away for safekeeping.
"How the hell do you forget to turn off your optics?" I ask while opening the battery compartment of a holographic sight.
"Look in the mirror and ask again." Naruto says as he grabs another rifle.
"The hell does that mean?"
"Check the serial number." He points to the rifle in my hands, so I flip it over to see the number stamped into the receiver, S20841-U46. The number sounds familiar.
"Let me see the list." He sets the list in front of me and I find the number… well shit, I'm the dumb ass who doesn't turn off my optic.
"How much fucking ammo do I need to count?" Shikamaru asks from the other side of the room.
"Until everything is accounted for." Neji, who is positioned to my left, answers without looking up from his work.
"How much do you think the Marines have?"
"Enough to do our job." I answer his next question, starting to disassemble the rifle issued to me. Four to five days of burnt powder building up might not be much, but add in dirt, dust, and grime, and that is when it becomes a problem, nothing some gun oil can fix however. Naruto takes one of the M16A4's, the classic hand-me-downs from the Army, and sits next to Neji and I at the bench. "Scoot over, I want to clean my rifle myself." He grabs his cleaning kit and starts to take it apart.
"Have you guys gotten to mine yet?" Shikamaru asks as an ammo can is heard being set down. "I got, let's see, about 40 of these things accounted for."
"Need a break buddy?" Neji asks as he reassembles the rifle he was cleaning. "And to answer your question, I just finished it."
"Thanks. And yeah, you want to swap out."
"Sure." Shikamaru sits down where Neji was and takes the list of numbers.
"How are we on rifles?"
"Mine was the last one, so if you could start on sidearms that would be appreciated." Naruto answers. How long we spent in the armory doing basically inventory, I couldn't tell, I looked at my watch and saw it was now 12:37, fuck that's a long while.
"Check the time guys, we should probably head over to the chow hall for lunch." I say, stretching my back out.
"Almost finished up." Naruto calls back, as he grabs the last of the ammo cans. A few clanks of metal later and we have finally got the job done. Hand in what we have to hand in and head over to get some food in our stomachs. Again, the meal far surpassed my expectations. A girl's father back home would tell me that the food stuff they would serve in the military, especially the Marines, was basically slop, for a better sense of words. I think that was his way to try and talk me out of joining, unannounced to them I had already made up my mind. And so far, I haven't regretted signing up. An hour later, Shikamaru, Neji, and I find ourselves sitting in our separate bunks. I was writing to my family, letting them know that I was okay. Shikamaru was reading a book he had bought at the commissary, not sure what Neji was doing though.
"Hey, we need guys for flag football, are any of you guys interested?" Naruto asks as he walks in.
"Sure, I got nothing better to do." Neji says as he gets up and straightens up his outfit.
"Why not." I add as I finish up the letter and set it in an envelope. "The bases post office is on the way anyways."
"Shikamaru, what about you?"
"Nah, I told some of the doctors that I would swing by the field hospital for some more training."
"Alright, suit yourself man. Follow me gents." Naruto leads us to a small opening not far from the air stripe. Just like back home, we stuffed rags, old and new, just under our belts or waste bands of our pants. Naruto was one captain, another Marine, Luke 'Skinny' Skinner was the other. We called him Skinny cause the bastard would make a toothpick look rotund. Despite his stature, the guy's tough from what I hear. I ended up on Naruto's team, Neji was on Skinnies team, a back and forth battle until.
"Huga, Uchiha, Uzumaki." One of the higher ups yells out, and we leave our respective huddle.
"Yes sir." Naruto says as we get closer.
"Grab your gear, you've been invited to work with the Army." He says and we look at one another, we grab our gear and head to the armory, where Shikamaru is filling some mags of 5.56.
"Any idea what's happening?" Neji asks as he grabs a M249 SAW.
"All they told me was we were invited to play with the Army."
"Think it involves that Rangers group from the other day?" Naruto asks as I look over to the M14 EBR.
"Maybe, all I know is I'm all for an opportunity to fight." Neji answers as I look at the M40A3 bolt action rifle. Something inside tells me that I should bring the M40, so I grab it and some 7.62 NATO.
"Going sniper huh?" I look over to see Shikamaru double checking his equipment.
"Yeah, don't know why, but my gut told me to." I respond as I grab my M4 carbine and M9 pistol. Check if everything is there, and head out to a chopper that is spinning up. Neji sits with his feet dangling off the edge with the SAW in his lap, the sling wrapped around his torso, I take a chair next to his right, and Shikamaru his left. To my left, Naruto sits in one of the other chairs, I don't know how I never noticed he was wearing a garter scarf. "What's with the face covering?" I ask at somewhat of a yell.
"Doc said I should cover my face as best as I can to protect the scars." He replies, again at a yell. Other than that, it's a quiet ride, there's a tension in the air, some kind of feeling that at least I felt after we loaded in the humvee almost a week ago. A sense of the unknown. Off in the distance, a FoB comes into view, waving three flags, one being the US flag on the top, under that I can make out to be an Army flag, no idea what the third flag is. Couldn't make out what it said, all I know is it had what looked like a skull. We land and a familiar female figure waits for us.
"Gentlemen." She says as we unload.
"Albarn, what is the reason we have the pleasure of meeting again?" Naruto asks as the two shake hands.
"Me sticking my fucking neck out." She states as we follow. "We need a small squad to run overwatch, that's where you guys come in. Took what felt like forever to convince the higher ups to let you guys in. So try not doing dumb shit yeah."
"When do we brief?" I ask as we make our way to the center tent.
"Now." She answers as we enter a small room with the lights off and the dogs in the room, aka Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, and I, take a seat in the back of the room. "Eyes on people." Maka turns on a projector and I pull out a small notebook and pencil. "From the Intel we had gathered over the past few days, we believe the eldest son and the three wife's of the leader of Yad Allah are in this small village here." She wipes out a pointer and points to a small cluster of buildings, next slide is a closer view of the AO. Large building in the back of the village, smaller building towards the center of town, red roof. "We check building by building. From south to north, we'll split into two teams, the assault team, designated Delta will be myself, Kid, Blake, Ox, and Jackie. The overwatch team, designated Echo, will be Rung, Evens, and our Marine friends who have so gracefully joined us on this operation." She points to us, getting everyone's attention."
"Howdy." Naruto jokes before everyone turns back to the front.
"Focus people. We know there is a weapons cache at this building here." She points to the small red roofed building. "Echo team will blow that cache as Delta regroups. If we do not find the HVT, we rondevu here and push up to the large building here. Any questions?"
"How do we take out the cache?" Neji asks.
"Yeah, is there any specific way we need to take it out or?" Shikamaru adds.
"One of you will have a satchel charge, if that doesn't work, hit it with what explosives you got. Anything else?"
"Who's Blake?" Naruto asks.
"Sup." The group's machine gunner, Black Star, says, raising his hand.
"It's Black Star's real name." The man with glasses in front of me says before turning back to us. "Name's Ox Ford."
"Like the school?" I ask, cocking my head to the side.
"Yes, I know the irony, a smart guy named after a prestigious school, also ironically, that's where I plan on going after my service is over. Also back in basics, my battle buddy was named Harvar. D. Like Harvard…"
"Okay, I get it. Name's Sasuke Uchiha by the way." I shake his hand. I focus back on the map of the area.
"We load up at 21:00 and get dropped off by helo and scout out the AO, we move in at 06:30. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am." We all reply. We all get dismissed, but Shikamaru and I stay behind, studying every street and alley way. I look over and see Shikamaru making a rough sketch.
"Can you make an extra copy for me?"
"Sure. Here, you can have this one." He hands me the paper he was using and starts to sketch on a new sheet.
"I just don't know, I know dad. Why can't we convince Zid to do one last mission." Auburn can be heard saying as she walks in on the phone. "I gotta go dad… love you." She hangs up, the last two words being very hush hush. "You two still need this?"
"Yes, I do at least." Shikamaru says.
"By the way, who's leading this op if I may ask?" I ask as I stand up.
"That would be me."
"I could guess that much. Ain't you an LT?"
"Somehow, I didn't really intend on being a Second Lieutenant out of academy. I think they gave it to me because of my dad. Fucking prick."
"What is your problem with him exactly? Evans gave us a quick run down when we first met."
"He cheated on my mom, he didn't tell me they were getting a divorce until after my 13th birthday party. And then I found out I was being transferred to a military school, I was one of the only six girls in the class. I… was a good kid… and I ended up with kids who hated everything and anything involving authority. Somehow asshole getting caught with other women MEANS I'M A…"
"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. We get it, hella daddy issues. Fucking hell." Shikamaru yells, getting the woman to calm down.
"I-I'm sorry gentlemen. I get all worked up talking about it."
"Then don't talk about it." Shikamaru sets his notebook down and turns to her. "Listen, if you don't want anything to do with him, just fucking tell him."
"It's not so much that I don't want him in my life. It's…"
"You find it hard to forgive him for what happened with him and your mother?" I ask, and she just points to me.
"That calls for diplomacy. You two need to sit down and have a talk, a heart to heart, try to understand the others point of view. Maybe he'll be able to understand that you have yet to forgive him, and maybe you could realize what he's trying to make up for the wrong he did. That or you both start yelling at one another and threaten the others' lives." I give Shikamaru a death glare as he says this. "What?"
"Never thought I would get therapy from a couple of Marines, but here we are. Anyways, I'm going to get food in my stomach, you guys turn the stuff off when y'all are done, got it."
"Copy that. Have a good dinner." I say as Maka walks out the room. "Alright, I'm going to zero my M40 in, you done?"
"Yeah, want me to spot?" He asks in response as he turns the projector off.
"That would be greatly appreciated." We find our way to the range and get set. I load five rounds into the magazine and chamber the first round before firing.
"Up and to the right." He says and I adjust for the second shot. "A little more to the left." Adjust and shoot. "Bullseye." I put a few more rounds down range to make sure the zero is true.
"Alright, let's get some chow if we can." I say as we get our stuff and find our way to the mess hall, where we find Naruto and Neji eating with a couple of the guys from before. "Gentlemen."
"Bout fucking time. Anyways this is Kilik Rung and Soul Evens. Kilik, Soul, this is Sasuke Uchiha and Shikamaru Nara."
"Gentlemen." We shake hands and get to know who we are getting into this potential mess with as we quickly eat and not long after, it's time to load up. Two separate choppers take both teams to drop off points just a football field or so away. Echo, our team, is dropped off on a building just outside the village, Delta is set a good distance away from us to the east. We did find out that some new recruits of their team were going to be joining us, and we in Echo team had to babysit them.
"So, what made you guys want to join the Army." One of the three girls asks us as we sit on or next to a couch.
"Are you talking to us?" Naruto asks.
"Well yeah. You guys aren't don't have Spartaio badges. Oh, names Tsugami by the way."
"Kid, we're Marines, now I get we just met and all, so I'll let that slide, but don't make that mistake again, got it." Naruto says as he stares bullets into her, probably would have knife handed her if he was an NCO. "But if you must know, I joined the corps because my home life sucked a fat one."
"My brother was a Ranger like y'all. Died not long after being transferred to a super special group." I add as I check over my rifle. "So I decided if I would join the military, it would be the Marine Corps. You can guess what happened from there."
"My family has a history of military service, my father died when the hunt for Bin Laden first started." Neji says as he takes his helmet off and lies down to get some shut eye.
"I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, and my three childhood friends were joining the USMC. So I said fuck it." Shikamaru says with a small grin and I grab my gear to head to the roof.
"Mind if I join you Evans?"
"I don't mind." I lay prone next to him and use the scope of the M40 to scan the area. "You got thermal on that?"
"Hmm, oh no. I've been trying to save up for a decent one though."
"What power is the scope?"
"Six times magnification. What about you?"
"4x ACOG, and a red dot at a 45 degree to the right."
"Nice." I let off the scope to give my eye a quick rest.
"I can't help but notice you have your left hand at the trigger area. Are you left-handed?"
"Yep, and right eye dominant. It's a bitch sometimes but I'm used to it." I say before looking back down the scope.
"Got anyone back home Marine?"
"Girlfriend. Been with her since freshman year. You?" Soul looks around before scooting a little closer.
"Look, this isn't as odd as it sounds, but Maka and I are a thing."
"Isn't that against code or something?"
"See, that's the thing, we started dating in 8th grade."
"So you two ending up in the same unit is complete coincidence?"
"Bingo, the Army is aware though." He says as we hear footsteps behind us, and we see Naruto.
"Evans, head down, I'll take over."
"Alright, good talk." I nod as Soul gets up and heads back down and Naruto goes prone where he was.
"See anything?"
"Nothing."
"I saved a couple of trail mixes from some MREs the other day, want some?"
"Give me one." He hands me one of the little pouches and I take a small handful of the contents and pop it into my mouth. "You know Evens and Albarn are fucking?"
"Really?" I nod. "I can believe it, Shikamaru said he thought something was there." He says before we both go quiet, nothing but silence. Normally I wouldn't mind, but with where we were, it was uneasy.
"You fell that man?"
"Tension so thick it can stop a bullet. Hoping it's in our favor." He answers as we return to the nothingness surrounding us. In just a few short hours we'll be back under fire, this time by invitation.