The months had started to blur together. Once our mandatory leave was up, Team Fist was sent out on missions constantly, but they weren't nearly as…exciting as our previous missions had been.

Kumo had been pushed out of Kusa and almost fully out of the Land of Fire as well. Most of my team's missions following our leave had us patrolling Konoha's northern border with Hot Water. Only rarely did we move into Hot Water itself to go after Kumo's forces.

Unlike when we faced the Kumo nin on our past missions, we did not encounter any serious nin presence from any of our other targets. The most we would regularly face were three-man chunin teams or a jonin and their genin that were easily dealt with by a well-trained ANBU squad. Kumo's ANBU presence in the Land of Fire tanked after the first few months of open conflict. Even if we had faced additional ANBU, Team Fist and Team Kunai were typically sent out in the same area, so we would have had them to back us up in case things went sideways and vice versa.

We were back in the village for a brief respite. Between Sogo, Touji, Chiaki and I, Team Fist had been hauling in more living prisoners than the entire rest of Konoha's nin combined. Our priority during recent months had been to capture instead of kill, leading to us running between Konoha and our border with Hot Water regularly. If I had to guess, our track record with taking prisoners was why Team Fist hadn't been sent to join the ANBU fighting on the frontline. It was better for the war effort if we picked up stragglers and brought them back to T&I for interrogation.

I wasn't going to complain. Being held in reserve was safer than facing an entire enemy village on even footing, complete with all of the surprises they surely prepared, and it wasn't like our presence on the front lines would be necessary for Konoha's success.

Given how well everything had been going for Konoha, I was beginning to suspect that I was right with my assessment of Kumo's plans. They were trying to hurt Konoha, not kill us. That would come later. While it had taken us more time than I was comfortable admitting pushing Kumo out of our borders, we'd practically done it. Now, we were gearing up to head into the Land of Lightning itself. That was where the issue lied.

Kumo had obviously planned this whole thing out before they declared war on us. They already had troops in position to strike us from two sides simultaneously the moment the declaration was made. In addition, the Land of Lightning's border was locked down tight. Kumo's network of border posts were all heavily fortified. The intel T&I distributed through the ANBU, many of it coming from the nin my team captured, told us they had nin everywhere; they had to have been preparing for this for some time now.

Now, if Team Fist was going to continue patrolling the Land of Fire, this wouldn't really be my problem. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

"There's a long stretch of open land here between Kumo's border posts. That's where we'll be infiltrating the Land of Lightning." Chiaki said, pointing to a map spread out on the table beneath us. She and Falcon had just returned from a meeting with the ANBU higher ups. Team Fist and Team Kunai would be moving into the Land of Lightning together. Once we reached the border, we'd meet up with another two ANBU teams that had been clearing out Hot Water.

Like Grass, Hot Water were claiming to have no knowledge of Kumo's movements, and had petitioned Konoha for aid restoring the sanctity of its borders. This was second-hand info Misaki had overheard, really she read their lips under their ANBU masks, some people from other teams talking about, but Hot Water was also trying to wrangle an alliance out of Konoha in exchange for their aid dealing with Kumo. I didn't know the specifics of any deals that were or were not happening as it was above my pay-grade, but the idea of two border nations working with us in the future made me happy, mainly because it meant I would have less work to do. Any enemy invaders would have to go through them to get to us… Which, in hindsight, Kumo had already done, but maybe Konoha ANBU support would help prevent that kind of thing in the future.

"What's our path through Hot Water look like?" Ko asked, arms crossed over his chest.

"Clear." Tojo, otherwise known as Falcon, answered. "We'll leave through their northern coast and run across the sea to reach the coast of the Land of Lightning."

"They'll be watching for that, won't they? They'd have to be stupid not to watch their waters in wartime." Touji said.

"We'll be moving at the same time as several other ANBU teams. Additionally, Konoha's regular forces will be hitting Kumo across land to draw their attention away. We should be able to slip through." Chiaki explained.

"We're cutting ourselves off from any reinforcements with this play." I said, not exactly liking the plan that was being laid out in front of me. As far as I could see, we were being ordered to run behind enemy lines into an entire enemy country's worth of ninja with four ANBU teams. We would have no way to retreat or call for reinforcements until the border posts we were aiming to hit were down.

"We will have support. Our job is to come around from behind while the regular nin strike from the border to strike the posts from two directions." Chiaki assured me.

"Do we have a fallback plan in case this fails?"

"Run back onto the water."

So go back the way we came? That wasn't a very good exit strategy, especially if we were spotted and followed.

"When do we leave?" Touji asked.

"Tonight." Chiaki said. "Get your gear and muster in HQ at 17:00. Dismissed."

We all stepped away from the table, moving off to secure our gear and prepare for the mission.

X

Shikaku's shoulders were slumped as he walked through the village. He'd always been busy, but this war had increased his work load fourfold. Yoshino had to step up to help him with his duties to the Nara Clan because his position as Jonin Commander demanded his full attention. He had to organize teams, plan troop movements, anticipate enemy troop movements – he was so deep in work he was nearly drowning in it, but that was his job. If it helped safeguard his village, he was happy to do it.

Even if he had issues with certain decisions being forced by people who had no idea what they were doing.

Few in Konoha knew more about the state of the war than Shikaku. Between the information Inoichi shared with him and the reports submitted to him by the jonin that commanded Konoha's regular forces, Shikaku had a fairly clear picture of the direction the war was heading. At least, he knew what he would do next if he were Kumo. He'd tried to raise his concerns with the Elders, but he was rebuffed. They were too insistent that Konoha needed to strike back at Kumo and prove its strength to listen to his warnings.

Throwing lives away had never sat well with Shikaku. Especially now that he had a personal investment involved, Shikaku was not willing to do nothing. He'd tried official channels and been denied. But he was a ninja and a Nara to boot. Working in the shadows was second nature for him.

Shikaku's shoulders were slumped; his hands were in his pockets. He walked just like any other night he strolled into the village to buy those chocolates his wife liked. Relaxed though he may have appeared, Shikaku was intently focused on everything around him. The sun was setting, allowing his shadows to spread wide to encompass the entire street around him. He knew the position of the ANBU guarding the village and could feel their bodies, telling him where they were looking.

Shikaku paused in front of a window displaying various meats. He stared at the meat for a moment. He felt a presence in his shadow flow into the shop and kept walking. The kage bunshin knew the plan and would play its role.

Shikaku – the real Shikaku – used a trick he learned from Shinto to skirt along the floor of the restaurant, flowing from shadow to shadow before he arrived at a room in the back. He emerged from his shadow and stood in the corner of the room, his back straight, a bright smile on his face. The henge he was under would not have made for a good disguise if he didn't alter his mannerisms as well.

"Shikaku," a voice greeted.

Shikaku's shoulders slumped back down. He dropped the henge as he turned towards the voice. It made sense the man had seen through him easily, but he would have appreciated it if they'd been able to maintain a semblance of plausible deniability. "I'm surprised you came."

A man with dark hair and intense features stared impassively forwards. "You stated the security of the village was at risk. You are not known as a man who carelessly uses exaggeration. Speak your piece."

Shikaku sighed, knowing this was going to be a hard sell. "I need a favor…"

X

We left Konoha while the sun was descending in the sky. Quick and quiet, we ran through the night, stopping at different Konoha posts along our route to rest and restock what little food we used.

When we reached the border of the Land of Fire, we met with three other ANBU teams – Kunai, Senbon and Sickle. After verifying each other's identities with Konoha codes and Telepathy, we continued on.

Like Eagle had said, our route through Hot Water was clear and uneventful. There was no fighting, and soon we were running over the water.

I felt more exposed than I had in my entire life. It was night thankfully, but there was no cover anywhere. The only option for breaking line of sight was to submerge yourself in the water beneath you, but that was a terrible idea when fighting nin skilled with water jutsu, and I didn't have any way to know for sure whether or not any enemy nin I would encounter would be skilled with water jutsu.

Was it a bad time to mention I didn't like large bodies of water? In my old life, it was called thalassophobia – a persistent and intense fear of deep water. I didn't like not knowing what was underneath me. I also didn't like the idea that I might just disappear under the waves one day to never resurface. It was horrifying, and that was before there were potential enemy ninjas slinking about in the great dark below me. Luckily, the shadows in the water let me feel a large distance below me, so I knew there was nothing there. That was a lot more comforting than the thought that something might be there.

Falcon raised a hand, signaling for us all to stop. 'Nearing coast. Proceed silently.' he sent with Telepathy.

I refocused, settling into formation with my team as we all advanced together. We were tense as we slunk towards the coast. I was intently focused on the shadows around me, looking out for any enemies. All I felt was the shifting waves and the movements of my fellow Konoha ANBU.

We emerged onto the beach and dashed over the sand to an outcropping of rocks.

'Clear.' Owl sent everyone.

'Proceed.' Falcon sent a moment later.

We moved along our pre-planned route, moving in an arc that would take us south towards Kumo's border. There were three border stations all within a kilometer of each other that we were going to attack. We needed to be within striking range before the sun rose. That would be when Konoha's regular forces attacked.

With Owl and I both watching our surroundings, we moved south through the Land of Lightning. Owl detected Kumo patrols and directed us around them. If we attacked them, we would reveal ourselves prior to the attack, losing us the element of surprise.

Just as the horizon adopted an orange hue, we crested a hill giving us a vantage point on the first post we would strike.

'Hold here until we receive the signal.' Falcon ordered through Telepathy.

I slunk into my shadow while everyone else hid behind the rocks, keeping my eyes focused on the border post in the distance. The defenses were nothing special – a patrolled stone wall and some obvious traps. I was sure there were others I couldn't see, but I trusted Owl to be able to get us through them.

The sun peeked over the horizon. In the distance, an eastern, serpent-like dragon made of flame flew towards the walls of the Kumo post at speed – a fire dragon bullet.

'The signal.' I sent to the hidden ANBU around me with Telepathy.

'Attack.' Eagle commanded.

We exploded out of our hiding places, all sprinting down the hill towards the post. As we got closer, the sound of jutsu and clashing steel became more prevalent.

As we neared, a trio of Kumo chunin leapt over the back wall and started fleeing the post. They were likely trying to inform their allies that the post was under attack. When they saw us coming, they hurriedly altered their course, but it was too late.

One fell to Owl's screaming Chidori as she flickered in front of him. The second was taken down from behind as Scorpion wound ninja wire around his neck. I took out the third, flowing through the shadows on the ground until I was underneath him. I took control of his shadow and sharpened it into tendrils that rose up to impale him.

With the chunin taken care of, we continued on our way to the border post.

'Scatter!' Owl shouted with Telepathy.

We all leapt in different directions, trusting her judgment.

Three Kumo nin hopped up onto the wall we were approaching, each having just wove hand signs. "Raiton: Lightning Rat Violent Quakes!" they called in unison.

Dozens of disks of electrical energy appeared in the air around them. They shot towards us, curving to follow us as we fled.

My shadow armor flowed up my body, shadowy tendrils shooting out of my back to bat away any disk that came close to me.

"Doton: Flying Thrown Stones!" Bear announced. He was standing behind a red energy barrier Ox erected to block the lightning disks. The barrier fell, and Bear's stones rocketed towards the top of the wall, forcing the Kumo nin to fall back.

That was all the opening we needed.

We flooded over the wall, emerging into chaos. The Kumo nin were in disarray. Nin wearing Konoha headbands tore through the post, striking out at every Kumo nin in sight. The Kumo nin were outnumbered and caught by surprise. They had no hope of victory.

Still, a little more disorganization among Kumo's ranks could only serve to help Konoha. I cast several brief messages of Telepathy from my vantage point at the top of the wall, targeting the few Kumo nin who seemed to be giving orders, sending them false words from each other about how to coordinate their forces.

The effect was immediate. What little defense they'd managed to muster crumbled under the conflicting orders they were giving.

'Fall back. Regular nin will take the post. We will hold perimeter to prevent escape.' Eagle sent with Telepathy.

Team Fist and Kunai withdrew while Senbon and Sickle descended into the post. We moved back and held a rough perimeter, but it was unnecessary. No one else was able to make it out of the post.

Once the post was firmly under Konoha control, Teams Sickle and Senbon rejoined us.

'There is a village to the north supplying food and weapons to the border troops. We will advance and eliminate.' Fox, Sickle's team captain, said through Telepathy.

'Other guard posts?' I sent with Telepathy. I didn't like the idea of deviating from the plan with no notice. All of our reinforcements would be heading towards the other two guard posts we were supposed to be moving towards now that we'd taken the first.

'Konoha regulars will suffice. On me.' Fox ordered.

I looked off in the direction the Konoha regular nin were moving before flickering after the ANBU.