Having eaten the food pills, I could feel a bit of my chakra returning. It seemed that resting up and eating something was a good idea. I was still exhausted, but at least now I wouldn't be completely helpless if any more surprises turned up.
A moment later Minato stool up and put away his materials. "The seal is done, Uchiha-san. So long we stand near it we should be able to breath fine."
I nodded and stood up, before making a hand seal and pressing it to the pile of rubble. A small tunnel appeared in it, just wide enough to stick your finger in. Smoke started wafting out of it.
"Do you know the Shadow Clone technique?" I asked curiously.
Minato nodded, understanding what I actually meant, and he made a hand seal. A moment later a Shadow Clone of his appeared, which then picked up the seal and extended a chakra string through the tunnel, disappearing a moment later.
Eventually the tunnel stopped smoking, and Minato and I took that as an indication that the room beyond was safe enough to enter. We both extended chakra strings through the tunnel and teleported in a moment later.
The antechamber of the bunker was absolutely wrecked, with the walls having exploded inward due to the explosive clay. Luckily it seemed that the antechamber was the only part of the bunker that had been damaged by the explosion, the rest of it seemed relatively intact despite the smoke that was everywhere.
Aside from the antechamber, there was the administration rooms where intel was cataloged and stored before being sent back to Konoha, the bunk rooms where people slept, the rec room were people ate and rested in-between missions and work, and the toilet, which had it's own atmospheric seals to keep the smell from getting out.
For now Minato and I headed to the administration rooms, where it seemed the fire had been. It turned out that two of the Iwa nin had been poring over a scroll on a table when my Lightning had hit them, causing the scroll to ignite. In the subsequent aftermath of the lightning, it seemed they had flailed around a bit while on fire, lighting up a few of the shelves, before collapsing from heart failure. That had been enough to set off the atmospheric barrier.
"That Lightning Technique of yours is fairly destructive, Uchiha-san," Minato commented as we observed the scene.
"It's not my fault what ninja do when suffering from heart failure," I pointed out.
"Maybe so," Minato nodded with a frown. "But it seems like an awful way to die."
I rolled my eyes. "Well, at least I prevented us from having to waste an entire platoon of loyal Konoha nin in retaking this place."
"I suppose," Minato nodded. "but perhaps you should find a way for your technique to kill more quickly, if only to prevent the destruction of property."
I sighed. "I guess I can work on that."
Minato sighed himself. "Very well. Since it seems we've taken care of all of the Iwa Nin, I'm going to retrieve the rest of our team so they can help us gather up our property. In the meantime, see if you can find the Iwa nin's black band scrolls."
I nodded, and a moment later Minato disappeared with the Flying Thunder God technique. With that, I began to check around the room, looking for a pile of black band scrolls. Black band scrolls were basically seals that contained dead bodies. They were called black band scrolls because of the black band that the scroll was bound with.
The administration room I was in about 8 meters long and 5 meters wide. On the far side to where the entrance was, the were shelves that contained scrolls and books, this was where the intel was cataloged and stored. In front of the shelves was three tables along with chairs, which was were people did most of the work. There were three dead Iwa nin who had been sitting at them when my lightning had hit them. They were on the floor now.
After carefully checking through the Iwa nin's bags, I found one that had the black band scrolls, which I then pulled out and counted. There were 11 of them. 11 Konoha ninjas, dead. From my own backpack, I pulled out the two black band scrolls that contained my dead teammates, and added them to the pile, which made up 13 scrolls now.
A moment later Minato reappeared with our teammates in tow. Tsuga was holding Toyokuni in her arms.
"Wow, it's a lot warmer here," Ueda said when they arrived.
"Yeah, I was starting to get really cold out on that moor," Nagata replied with a nod.
I rolled my eyes, before looking at Minato. "I found the black band scrolls. We have 13 dead comrades, including my dead teammates."
That killed the mood real quick, as Ueda and Nagata quickly shut up.
Minato gave me a considering look. "Are you certain they're all Konoha Nin, Uchiha-san? Surely the Iwa nin must have had some losses when they took this place."
I blinked, nonplussed. That hadn't occurred to me.
"Well, I suppose I can identify the bodies, to determine which are ours," I nodded.
Minato nodded back. "Very well. You can do that, the rest of us will go through the intel."
I nodded back, and walked over to one of the tables to reserve for myself, before picking a scroll and unsealing a body from it. Pulling a bag of special tools from my back pack, I quickly had the oral cavity open with specialized screw jacks, and a flashlight in my mouth while I poked around with a pair of tweezers and a small measuring stick.
"What are you doing?" Ueda asked from besides me a moment later.
I sighed, before putting down my tools and pulling the flashlight out of my mouth. "I was comparing their teeth with Konoha's dental records that I had memorized so that I could identify them, which was the job Namikaze-sama had given me. Shouldn't you be helping him?"
"You memorized Konoha's dental records?" Ueda asked incredulously. "That must have taken a long time… why would you do that?"
I gave him a flat look. "It didn't actually take that long, really. With the Sharingan, memorization is basically instant. I just had a bit of free time one day and decided to memorize them."
A moment later, Minato chose to intervene: "Ueda, why don't you go and start gathering up the bodies of the Iwa nin, hmm?"
"Alright, Minato," Ueda nodded, before flashing me a weirded out look. With that, he left the room, and I was left with Minato standing besides me.
"Can you really identify Konoha nin just by looking at their teeth?" He asked curiously.
I rolled my eyes. "Yes. No two sets of teeth are exactly alike, so basically yeah, so long as you have the dental records, which I do, in here."
I poked my head.
"Hmm." Minato frowned. "We'll have to have the forensics experts corroborate that anyway, so go ahead, I guess. Should make it easier on them, at any rate."
I sighed and nodded, before turning around and getting back to it. I was used to people doubting my skills in this regard, anyway, so it didn't bother me that much.
It didn't take me long to figure out that the man I was identifying was indeed a Iwa Nin, so I resealed him and put his scroll to the side, before moving on to the next. Over the next 8 scrolls, I identified 7 Konoha nin and 1 additional Iwa nin. When I identified a Konoha nin, I wrote their name down on a bit of paper and stuck it in their breast pocket, before resealing them away.
I was on the ninth scroll when Minato approached me again. "Ok, Uchiha-san, we're mostly finished here, so it's time to return to Konoha."
I pulled the flashlight out of my mouth and nodded. "Alright, just let me finish this guy and I'll be good to go."
Minato nodded back, and watched me as I resumed poking around in the ninja's mouth. A moment later a frown appeared on my face as I matched the teeth of the dead ninja with records in my memory: it was someone I knew, someone I had been very close to… but what was he doing here? Deciding that it must have been a mistake, I re-evaluated the teeth and compared them with the records in my memory again, which came up with the same results, again.
My frown deepened, and I stared quietly at the body of the man that I was identifying: he had the right hair, the right features… there was even the little scar on his cheek bone that had been the result of a training injury.
"Is something wrong?" Minato asked.
I looked at him, before speaking hesitantly. "This is the body of Enji Shimura… my old teammate from my genin days."
Minato gave me a look of concern. "I see. I'm sorry for your loss."
I looked at Enji- at the body again. "What was he doing here, of all places?"
"I suppose we can find out, when we get back to Konoha," Minato commented. "Speaking of which, it's time for us to go. Seal up the body and put your stuff away, we're done here."
I sniffed my suddenly wet nose and gave him a jerky nod, before wiping my eyes to stop the tears from flowing out. When had I started crying anyway?
Shaking my head, I put my tools away and sealed Enji… the body back up. Picking up the scrolls, I followed Minato back to the antechamber, where it seemed he had drawn another seal, which had most of the bunkers stuff piled up on it, as well as the rest of our teammates standing inside it.
The pair of us stepped inside the seal, and a moment later the bunker disappeared and we reappeared in Konoha, in front of the Ninja Hospital.
"Alright, Tsuga, take Toyokuni-san and Uchiha-san in, then report to the Hokage Tower," Minato said when we arrived. "I've got to take this stuff to the Hokage Tower directly."
"Wait, me?" I asked with disbelief. "I'm fine, I don't need to go to the Hospital!"
Minato gave me a flat look. "Uchiha-san, you look dead on your feet. How long have you been awake, exactly?"
I shrugged. "A while."
"Either way you're in no fit shape to be debriefed," Minato pointed out. "Besides, I don't think you'd want your clan to see you in your current state. Report to the hospital, get a night long night sleep, get plenty of fluids, and then report to Hokage tower tomorrow, alright? That's an order."
"Yes, Namikaze-sama," I nodded quietly, and with a sigh, made to follow Tsuga into the hospital. I was assigned a room with a bed, and went to sleep as soon my head hit the pillow.
Despite how tired I was, my sleep was fitful at best, and every now and then I'd wake up from a nightmare.
I woke up again from another nightmare around midday the next day, the image of the last time I had seen Enji flashing in my mind.
I had, of course, known that it was possible he could die on a mission. The last time I had seen him was before I had left for the Land of Lightning, but I hadn't expected to find out the news of his death by finding his body deep in enemy territory.
It had been a huge shock, suddenly realizing that it was my old friend that I was identifying. I thought I would have figured that out just by seeing his body, but I had been tired and thus hadn't payed attention, and so I hadn't figured it out until after I had examined his molars in close detail.
I shuddered at the thought, mentally repressing the memory.
He was dead, and everything was worse now.
No, both of my old teammates were dead, and everything was worse now.
As the day went on, I lingered in the bed and found myself dwelling on what I remembered of them:
"Team 17 will be Kazuto Uchiha, Enji Shimura, and Shizumi Aburame," my class instructor said. "Your Jonin instructor will be Fujima Nara."
I looked over at Enji, who was the dead last of my class. He looked a bit sullen to be assigned a team with me.
"Eh, Sensei, why do I have to be on a team with this gloomy asshole?" Enji asked loudly. "I'm the best ninja there is!"
The instructor gave him a flat look. "Kazuto had the best scores of the whole class. You had the worst scores."
Enji growled angrily at this news, flashing me an angry look.
"To create a balanced group, we placed the best student with the worst," The instructor continued on. "That's why you're on a team with Kazuto."
I rolled my eyes, before looking at Enji. "Just don't drag me down with you, Enji, and we'll get along swell."
"Fuck you, gloomy," Enji shot back. "I'll take you on any day, then we'll see who drags down who."
"Language!" the instructor yelled sharply.
I sighed. Just another day in this class room, even though it was the last.
"So why don't you guys tell me about yourselves?" Nara-sensei asked. "You know, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, that sort of stuff."
It was later that day, and we were sitting in a barbecue restaurant. After introducing himself in the classroom, Nara-sensei had lead us here and we had ordered some food.
"Why don't you go first, Nara-sensei, since we don't know anything about you," I suggested, leaning back in my seat.
"That makes sense," Nara-sensei nodded casually. "Lets see. I'm Fujima Nara. I like my family, tea, and cool summer days. I dislike people who hurt animals. My hobbies are collecting deer antlers, rare spices, and exotic teas. My dream for the future is to train you all to become excellent ninja."
"Right on!" Enji nodded exuberantly. "My name's Enji Shimura! I like training with swords, my mother's cooking, and my dad's old war stories. I hate gloomy people who are always killing the mood! I don't really have any hobbies, other than training, and my dream is the become the next Shinobi-no-yami!"
I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"Huh, you got something to say, gloomy?" Enji snapped at me.
"Not really," I replied in a bland tone of voice. "It' s just that the Shinobi-no-yami is supposed to be an advocate for the Shinobi rules… you know, things like no emotions and stuff. I just find it hard to imagine someone as exuberant as you becoming the Shinobi-no-yami."
"You're exuberant, asshole!" Enji shot back childishly.
I huffed out a laugh. "Do you even now what exuberant means?"
"Yeah, I know what it means," Enji replied defensively. "It means… it means-"
"Perhaps we should move on," Fujima cut in, before looking at me. "How about you go next, Uchiha-san."
"Alright," I nodded. "I'm Kazuto Uchiha. I like curry, reading, and inventing new techniques. I hate annoying people. My hobbies are training, and inventing new techniques. My dream for the future is to become an S rank Ninja, one that will be feared the world over."
"Ha, a gloomy fucker like you could never be an S rank Shinobi," Enji laughed.
"Need I remind you which of us is Rookie of the Year?" I asked dryly.
"Fuck you, Gloomy!" Enji shot back. "I'll take you on any day, then we'll see who's really Rookie of the Year!"
"Language!" Nara-sensei said sharply, before looking at Shizumi, who was sitting in-between us. "How about you, Aburame-san?"
Shizumi nodded. "My name is Shizumi Aburame. I like spiders, my family, and reading about spiders. I hate people who dislike spiders, and I hate frogs and toads. My hobbies are cataloging new species of spiders, and collecting live spiders. My dream is to successfully introduce spiders as an alternative to insects as weapons for my clan to use."
The rest of us had a rather muted reaction to that.
"That sounds… interesting," I said slowly.
"Ew, that sounds gross," Enji spoke up a moment later. "Why would anyone mess around with spiders? They're so creepy and gross!"
"Wow, Enji, could you be any more insensitive?" I remarked with annoyance.
"You're insensitive, asshole," Enji shot back childishly.
I rolled my eyes. At least Shizumi didn't seem as childish as Enji.
I rapidly flung lightning senbon at my target, aiming to cause maximum damage by hitting critical points on their body.
Unfortunately, the enemy ninja turned into water and his body spat out the senbon, displaying minimum damage. He was proving to be a tough enemy to beat.
"Give up, brat!" The enemy ninja called as he tried to close the distance between us. "You're surrounded, and your teammates are dead!"
I repressed the urge to look around and check on my teammates, I had to remain completely focused on the Kiri nin or I'd die a swift death. The ninja's ability to turn into water make it near impossible to kill or contain him unless he ran out of chakra…
Unless…
Jumping backwards to avoid his punch, I flipped over midair and threw a spread of lighting senbon around him.
"Your aim is getting worse, little boy," the Kiri ninja taunted, looking around at the senbon embedded in the ground.
"I wasn't aiming for you," I said as I landed and flashed through hand signs. "Lighting Release: Arc Shot."
I aimed for the senbon closest to him, and the arc jumped to the other senbon, forming a circle around the Kiri ninja, before it jumped into him from each senbon. At the last minute the Kiri nin turned into water, but that didn't save him, as the electricity conducted itself all though his body.
The Kiri nin gave a scream, before turning back into a man and passing out.
I quickly leaped in and planted a kunai in his chest. He gave a gasp then passed out again, dead.
Now that the enemy chunin was dead, I looked around at my teammates. Fujima-sensei had two chunin and a jonin locked down with his shadow techniques, and Shizumi was holding off her own opponent rather well.
Enji, on the other hand, wasn't doing so hot. He was facing another Hōzuki, and was repeatedly slicing the enemy ninja with his wind blade, while the enemy ninja simply turned into water and flowed around his blade, before landing cuts and slices of his own.
Throwing some more lightning senbon near the other Hōzuki, I fired up another arc shot, but it seemed that this particular Hōzuki had been paying attention to my fight with the other Hōzuki, as he jumped out at the last minute and I had to redirect the arc shot into the ground to avoid hitting Enji.
"You'll pay for killing Juzo, Konoha brat," the Hōzuki hissed at me after he landed.
I regarded him carefully. He seemed to be smarter than the other Hōzuki, who's name was apparently Juzo.
"You'll have to catch me first," I said, before implanting an illusion in his mind.
He snarled, before rushing where he thought I was, but I had already moved to the side and powered up another Arc shot. I aimed at the senbon I had recently used to disable Juzo, and when the other Hōzuki was near it, I let it lose.
The Kiri-nin only realized that he had been tricked at the last possible minute before the Arc Shot hit him, disabling him just as readily as it had Juzo, and I wasted no time planting a kunai in his heart as well.
That done, I turned to look at Enji: he was injured, heavily cut in multiple places, and in the time since I had distracted the other Hōzuki, he had fallen to his knees and panting heavily, using his sword to prop himself up.
"You saved my life…" he said in between pants.
"Don't take it personally," I replied shortly. "I'd do the same for any teammate."
Enji chuckled, before hissing in pain. "Aw, don't make me laugh, it hurts too much."
"I could use a little help here," Fujima-sensei called before I could reply.
I nodded and moved to help him, but it was too late. The Jonin had managed to get free of his shadow technique, and threw a kunai at Fujima, forcing him to drop the technique so he could deflect it.
"Retreat," the Jonin called, and the other two Kiri-nin jumped out of the clearing. Looking towards Shizumi, it seemed that she had dealt with her own opponent.
Fujima heaved a sigh. "Well, that went well."
"Enji is heavily injured, Fujima-sensei," I reported. "I suggest we retreat back to Konoha and report this mission as a failure."
"What, no!" Enji protested, before trying to stand up and failing. "I can still fight! We can still complete the mission-"
"Kazuto is right," Shizumi cut in. "You can barely stand up as is."
Fujima looked between the three of us, before looking at Enji. "I'm sorry, Enji, but I'm afraid I agree with Kazuto. To complete the mission we need a fully functional team, and right now with your injuries you're not fully functional."
Enji scowled mutinously, before shooting a glare at me.
"Kazuto, tend to Enji's injuries," Fujima-sensei said a moment later. "You'll carry him back to Konoha with us."
"Yes, Sensei," I nodded, before moving to Enji's side. "You should sit down and take your outer clothes off, I'll need to see your injuries to tend to them-"
"I don't need your help," Enji spat viciously. "I can do that on my own."
I gave him a flat look. "Maybe so, but we need to do this quickly, there are still enemy ninja in the area."
Enji glared at me for a long moment, before sighing, sitting down and setting his sword aside. I worked quickly, carefully checking for every cut and bruise, cleaning them, and wrapping them up.
Once that was done, I carefully packaged up his equipment and give it to Shizumi to carry, before picking Enji up piggy back style, and our team turned and began to make our way back to Konoha at ninja speed.
"Thanks… For everything," Enji murmured a while later, as we neared Konoha's gates.
"You're welcome," I replied shortly.
"I know I said I could still fight, but you were right, I really felt dead on my feet," Enji muttered apologetically.
"On your knees, you mean," I pointed out factually.
Enji gave an angry huff. "Look, I'm just trying to say I'm sorry."
I rolled my eyes. "There's nothing to apologize for, I'd do the same for any team mate."
"You've said that before," Enji replied with an annoyed huff.
I smirked. Enji was just too easy to tease.
"One of us has to stay behind and distract the enemy forces," Shizumi said in the soft voice she'd use when she knew neither of us would like what she had to say. "It's the only way."
"It should be me, then," I replied glumly. "I'm the only one who has a chance to escape-"
"Fuck that!" Enji shouted quietly. "You and I both know there's no escaping this. Even with those escape techniques you've devised, you'd have to hold them back for a long time and you can I both know that you don't have the stamina to do that. It should be me."
"No," Shizumi replied quietly in the same soft voice. "it's not a matter of stamina, or the capacity to escape. Who ever stays behind has to be able to hold the enemies attention. Enji, you and Kazuto are powerful, but you're just one man, were as I-"
"-have your spiders," I realized. "you could create an entire forest filled with traps and illusions to keep them distracted for hours."
"No!" Enji interjected. "It can't be you! What about your dream? You still haven't achieved it!"
"Maybe not," Shizumi nodded sadly. "But the mission comes first. We have to get this intel back to Konoha."
"Shizumi," Enji started.
"No, I've made up my mind." Shizumi interrupted him, speaking with determination. "Besides, I've already written down everything about my techniques. Perhaps someday a member of my clan will find my writings and take up my cause."
"Shizumi," I said thickly. "I'll make sure it happens. I promise you."
"Promise me something else," Shizumi asked. "Promise me- you won't keep your escape techniques to yourself. Promise me you'll teach them to other ninja in Konoha. Promise me, Kazuto."
"Why?" I asked with some startlement.
"Because they can save lives," Shizumi replied softly. "I've seen how powerful they can be, for so little chakra. Promise me, Kazuto, that you'll teach them to others. Promise me that I haven't given my life in vain."
"I promise," I replied thickly, tears welling up in my eyes.
"Thank you," Shizumi nodded serenely. "Now, go. I'll hold them off."
"Good-bye, Shizumi," Enji said thickly. "I promise I'll always remember you."
There was nothing else to be said, so we left, beginning the long trip back to Konoha, and as we tree hopped our way there, I noticed my eyes beginning to burn.
"So what will you do now?" Enji asked in-between sips from his cup of sake. "Join the Police corps?"
After we had returned to the village, the Hokage had dissolved our team, and we were waiting to be reassigned.
"No," I replied, my thoughts still dwelling on Shizumi, and my newly awakened Mangekyo Sharingan. "I've asked Fujima to help me get assigned to the intelligence department. With luck, I'll be sent out to spy on other villages. Hopefully Kumo or Iwa, but I'm not sure."
"Wait, why would you become a spook instead of joining the Police corps?" Enji asked curiously.
"The Police Corps is where Uchiha careers go to die," I replied truthfully. "The moment I'd joined, I'd be stuck there forever, and never be allowed to leave Konoha. Quite honestly, I'd much rather be a spook. They get out more and they get to learn more."
"I didn't know that about the Police corps," Enji said thoughtfully.
I regarded him carefully. "What about you? Are you going to start pestering Danzo-sama into letting you become his apprentice?"
Enji grinned. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I've got enough experience. I should probably start doing that."
"I'd say don't get your hopes up," I replied wryly. "But who knows with you?"
"Ha ha, Just you wait, the next time you return to Konoha I'll already be running Root," Enji smirked. "Count on it."
"I'll believe it when I see it," I huffed, before paying for my tab. "See you around, Enji,"
"See you around, Kazuto," Enji nodded, before sipping more of his sake.
And with that, I walked out of the bar and into my new life as a spook.
I was startled from my thoughts when a nurse entered the room.
"Oh, you're still here," the nurse said with surprise, before turning more formal and handing out notepad. "If you're ready, I have your discharge papers here, Uchiha-san."
I nodded and took the discharge papers from her, before signing them and handing them back. The nurse then walked out, and I took that as a sign that I needed to get dressed and leave the hospital.
A short while later, I was dressed and standing just outside of the hospital doors, wondering what I should do next.
I was supposed to report to the Hokage, but I decided that I wasn't ready to face him yet, and instead I decided to visit the memorial stone.
It didn't take me long to get there, as I took the ninja route and avoided the evening crowds.
When I got there, I stood still for a while, with my eyes wandering over the many names that had been etched into the stone edifice. I quickly found Shizumi's name, but Enji's name hadn't been added yet. There was still plenty of room for new names to be added, though.
It was a morbid thought, the idea that more people would die so their names could be added to it. I tried not to dwell on it, and instead tried to think more of Shizumi and Enji.
My mind felt oddly blank, though.
"Kazuto, I thought I might find you here," a voice said from behind me. I turned around and found it was the voice of Fujima-sensei.
"Fujima-sensei," I said in a dead tone.
"I heard about Enji," He replied softly.
He looked great, oddly enough. His hair was long and black, and he allowed it to flow freely, having never been one to adopt the Nara's traditional pineapple hairstyle. His face was tanned and heavily pockmarked from numerous battles. His eyes were warm and pitying.
I felt a surge of anger at the pity in his eyes. "Why?!"
Fujima sighed. "You're going to have to be specific, Kazuto."
"Why was Enji in that bunker?" I hissed angrily. "He was supposed to be safe and sound in Konoha! Not in a bunker deep on enemy territory!"
"I don't have all the answers, Kazuto," Fujima replied contritely. "After our team was dissolved, I barely saw you or Enji."
"But you must know something!" I insisted. "Why didn't he join Root or become Danzo's apprentice, like he said he was going to?"
"I don't know," Fujima said sadly. "All I know is that he joined the Intelligence Department a few months after you did. I don't know his reasons for why. He never told me."
He had been a member of the Intelligence Department? That was news to me. I had thought he was just part of a courier team.
"So you're saying, he cut off all contact with you?" I asked with a frown.
"He blamed me for Shizumi's death," Fujima replied honestly. "Because I wasn't there."
I turned around, staring at the memorial stone, my eyes resting on her name. I wanted to blame him too, for both of their deaths, but I knew that wasn't fair. Fujima had had different orders, and by then we could be trusted with solo missions. It wasn't his fault that he hadn't been with us that day, and it wasn't his fault that Enji had cut off all contact from him.
Blurriness clouded my vision, and I rubbed my eyes.
"Why did he have to die?" I asked tearfully.
Fujima didn't say anything, instead just giving me a hug from behind.
