I had not slept in three days, but I was used to going longer without sleep. The life of an ANBU was not an easy one, and you either toughened up or were tossed out for not being able to cut it.
Kumo's delegation arrived two days ago. The Raikage himself had come alongside his brother Killer B and a handful of other high-ranking ninja in their village. Security was a nightmare. Between the ANBU guards they brought with them and the ANBU Konoha assigned to them as 'protection' there was a massive contingent of potentially volatile nin moving through the village. The Hokage and his advisors accompanied them wherever they went, leading to a very tense atmosphere that followed in their wake.
The delegation were shown their accommodations the first day – the Hokage was 'graciously' hosting them in the grounds of the Sarutobi Clan to keep an eye on them – and negotiations began the second. According to the itinerary I was given prior to this guard posting, the delegation should all be on their way back to their rooms right now. If any of them were out on the streets instead of sticking to the agreed upon itinerary, they were to be treated as hostiles.
Being the only ANBU present able to hide in plain sight, I was our man guarding the gate to the Hyuga Compound, hiding in the shadow cast by the Hyuga Clan gate as the sun slowly descended. The two Hyuga guards were able to see traces of me with their byakugan, but they and their clan leaders were told of our suspicions, so they pretended as if I wasn't present.
THe Hyuga weren't the only ones we warned of Kumo's potential intentions. It was possible that by destroying their first fall back point on my first ANBU mission, I'd butterflied away their intended target to someone else. Every clan in Konoha had been notified and had beefed up their security. The Uchiha Police were also out in force, patrolling every street in the village, searching for any sign of hostility from Kumo.
The Naras had beefed up security, but I wasn't really worried about my clan. Between our abilities with our shadows and the deer in our compound, I seriously doubted anyone would be able to infiltrate our compound to hurt my clan. The most likely target was likely still the Hyuga due to how simple it was to steal their doujutsu while it was simultaneously an instant asset to a team of nin – seeing through walls was incredibly useful to a team as Misaki had shown me – so I was focused on guarding the Hyuga Compound with my team.
After the first night of hiding in the Hyuga Clan Compound's gate's shadow, I'd begun to doubt my foreknowledge. After an entire second day of no conflict, that doubt had grown.
I didn't remember this past war from canon Naruto. I remembered some shinobi who didn't even have a name coming to Konoha to sign some treaty and trying to take Hinata, but the Raikage and Killer B were certainly not in Konoha when that happened. At the same time, Hiashi's brother Hizashi was still alive, I'd checked, and I distinctly remembered HIzashi's head being sent to Kumo to prevent a war from breaking out. That meant the Hyuga Incident from canon Naruto hadn't happened, but there was a good possibility that my presence in this world, not to mention the war that was just fought, had butterflied the event away.
I knew from Naruto that there was an attempted kidnapping, but I didn't know much about the event or even how the kidnapping was attempted. It was entirely possible Hinata was just playing in Konoha's streets and a passing Kumo nin saw an opportunity and took it. It might not have been a planned thing. For all I knew, the map from Konoha's gate to the Hyuga Compound Misaki found while we were shifting through those documents we recovered might not have been the only one. Those notes may have had maps from every clan compound to Konoha's gate in case an opportunity arose to get inside the village and kidnap a clan kid. As I thought about it logically, that seemed the most likely in my head.
Because seriously, how did anyone, ninja or not, manage to slip by an entire clan of men and women that could see through walls? It didn't add up. I don't care how stealthy you are, the byakugan can spot you no matter your hiding spot. I was capable of becoming one with actual shadows, and Misaki still had no issue finding me whenever she wanted to.
…That being said, the byakugan wasn't infallible. It had the weakness in the back of the head and there were some techniques that it couldn't see through.
…Like the technique the nin that injured Ko on our first mission used, the very same ninja that were guarding the post where we recovered the map that had directions from the Hyuga Compound to Konoha's main gate.
Fuck! How had I not made the connection sooner!
'Be advised, enemy nin are potentially using jutsu that can conceal themselves from the byakugan. Use alternative means of detection.' I quickly broadcast to the three ANBU teams present as well as the two Hyuga gate guards using Telepathy.
I noticed the way the guards tensed, turning their heads to look around despite their eyes typically making such movements unnecessary.
'Unknown scent in the compound.' Hound broadcasted to all of us less than a minute after my own casting of Telepathy. 'Scent fleeing Clan Head's residence at speed. Moving towards southern gate. Team Ro, head enemy off. Team Kunai, pursue through compound. Team Fist, hold position at main gate.' Hound ordered swiftly. When we'd been assigned to this post, the Hokage had made it clear that Hound was in charge of the operation. Eagle was still in command of my team, but Hound had operational command over all of us during this mission.
The ANBU who'd taken up positions around the Compound scattered to follow their orders. The two Hyuga guards left their post, charging off in the direction Team Kunai had left, pursuing the unknown presence.
'Second scent fleeing towards main gate. Team Fist, intercept.' Hound sent through Telepathy. His range with that genjutsu exceeded my own range with it, and I'd made the thing. Hound was not to be messed with.
I coiled my shadows around myself, primed to strike out at a moment's notice.
Almost a minute passed before a masked nin appeared fifty meters away, sprinting towards the gate. There was a small child tucked under his arm, a girl. She appeared to be unconscious. Her head was lolling back and forth with each step the masked nin took.
I waited, primed to move, but not yet revealing myself.
'Target in sight. Engaging.' I sent to my team.
The nin's foot touched the shadow cast by the gate and I sprung into action. I erupted out of the ground like a dark demon, my Shadow Armor wrapped tight around my body as my shadow moved to meld with the nin's.
I had clearly caught the enemy shinobi off guard. He tried to turn away from me, but his momentum carried him forward into my dark embrace. He froze as my shadows wrapped around him. I moved my left hand out to the side, and his right arm mirrored me, holding the small child aloft.
I didn't know well enough whether it was Hinata or Hanabi he was holding, but the identity of the child didn't matter so much as the fact that I had just caught this man attempting to kidnap her.
Owl flashed through the space next to me, snatching the small girl away from the enemy nin and fleeing, Tiger moving away with her. Their main task now would be to see to the safety of the child, leaving the enemy nin to the rest of us.
'Ox, suppression.' Eagle ordered, including me in the telepathy to make sure I knew Ox's seal was coming. If the enemy was still enveloped in my shadow jutsu when the chakra suppression tag hit him, there was a chance the seal would negate my shadow while leaving the enemy free to act.
Ox flickered forward, and I pulled back my shadows the instant before he slapped four separate seal tags onto the enemy nin. Bear moved in behind the nin and began winding ninja wire around his limbs, completely immobilizing him.
'Poison capsule!' Ox frantically sent through Telepathy. The enemy knew he wouldn't be able to use the Body Elimination Technique due to Bear restraining him and was instead killing himself with poison to pin his failed mission on Konoha. But how did he take the poison capsule? I'd had him in my shadow until the moment he was restrained by Ox and Bear. The nin must have been carrying the pill under his tongue or somewhere else in his mouth.
If this man, likely a member of Kumo's diplomatic delegation, died, Konoha would be seen to have dishonorably murdered a peaceful emissary and suffer penalties on the world's stage just like in canon Naruto. This man could not be allowed to die.
I shouldered past Ox and knocked the Kumo nin onto his back, tearing his mask off his face as I did. The man's skin was pale. He had greasy black hair and a goatee; he wore a smirk even as white foam began to ooze past his lips.
I had moments to save his life. I didn't know precisely what poison he used, but I recognized the effect from several of my own.
A storage seal popped on the inside of my ANBU jacket and I jammed twenty separate senbon into the man's chest with my shadow tendrils. That done, I cut his chest open with a kunai and shoved my hand into his chest, my hands coated with the green energy of the Mystic Palm Technique. The man tried to scream and thrash as I worked, but Bear's ninja wire and Ox's tags prevented him from being able to resist me.
Administering so many different antidotes at once wasn't a very good idea. Their effects may multiply and create issues for the patient instead of helping them, but I didn't have time to analyze the poison the Kumo nin used in depth, and I was literally holding his heart in my hand, not allowing it to stop beating as I forced the poison he'd taken to flow away from his vital organs.
Even with all of this, I was only stalling the inevitable. I wasn't a skilled enough medic to keep this up for long or to really treat him. I needed to get this bastard to the hospital right now or I risked letting him die after one mistake.
'Withdrawing to hospital to stabilize target.' I sent to my team through Telepathy.
'Ox, go with Badger. Bear, we will back up Team Ro.' Eagle ordered. Ser and Bear flickered away towards the other end of the Hyuga Compound.
Ox knelt down next to me, lifting the Kumo nin up in a bridal carry. He picked me up at the same time. I was laying stomach-to-stomach on the Kumo nin to keep my healing up like I'd once done with Wolf. I didn't dare risk breaking my concentration for even a moment.
I felt the air rush by as Ox ran us to the hospital. The Kumo nin was still trying to struggle, his thrashing growing more panicked as he realized he wasn't dead yet, but Ox and Bear had done good work restraining him. I took the strength behind his attempts to escape as a good sign. Either one of my antidotes had been a match for the poison he'd subjected himself to or I was doing a good enough job regulating his blood flow that the poison hadn't done its job yet.
Ox exploded through the doors of the hospital, holding the Kumo nin and I up to the chunin behind the desk. "ANBU business. I require secure care for one hostile. He has taken a poison capsule. He cannot die."
The chunin behind the desk exploded into action, calling other med nin over. When ANBU showed up and told you to treat a patient that could not be allowed to die, you dropped everything and did whatever they told you to do.
"What's his status?" an older chunin, a kunoichi with brown hair, asked as she pushed to the front of the small crowd leading Ox to one of the subterranean rooms where prisoners could be treated without fear of them escaping or killing themselves.
I began clinically listing off what I'd seen the poison do as well as all the antidotes I'd jammed into him. The chunin listened raptly, jotting hurried notes down on a piece of paper as Ox laid me and the Kumo nin on the gurney.
"I don't know if my antidotes worked." I said. "I'm keeping the poison from spreading further, but it is not removed and may not be cured."
"Understood, ANBU-san. Please leave him to us." the brown-haired kunoichi said.
I stood off the Kumo nin and backed away as three med nin surrounded him, picking up where I'd left off, their hands glowing green.
"If he isn't dead already, he won't die on our watch." the same chunin said. She turned to me and bowed shallowly at the waist. "Well done, ANBU-san. We will take it from here." She turned around and began directing the guards and med nin in the room.
'We return to the Hyuga Compound.' Ox said to me with Telepathy.
I nodded in agreement, and we both flickered away from the hospital.
When we made it back to the Hyuga Compound the fight was already over. Eagle, Bear and the other two ANBU teams were standing just inside the main Gate of the Hyuga Compound with Hiashi Hyuga, the Hyuga Clan Head. They were all staring down at the unmoving body of a masked ninja. The mask was plain and black, near-identical to the one the man Ox and I had taken to the hospital had been wearing.
'Status?' Ox sent through Telepathy to the present ANBU.
Eagle rounded on us as we approached. 'Two enemy nin attempted to kidnap both Hinata and Hitomi Hyuga. Both used poison capsules. This one is deceased. What of the other one?' she sent back.
'He's alive. He has a cabal of med nin around him ensuring he stays that way.' I sent through Telepathy. I could see the tension bleed out of the ANBU around us.
'Team Kunai, proceed to the hospital and ensure nothing happens to the kidnapper.' Hound ordered through Telepathy.
Team Kunai all flickered away, immediately moving to carry out Hound's orders.
Eagle walked up to me and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Well done, Badger." she said aloud.
'Team Fist, Team Ro, on me.' Hound ordered through Telepathy.
All of us flickered after him as he disappeared.
X
Hiruzen Sarutobi projected an air of calm – a mighty feat given the tumultuous anger writhing within him. His ANBU guards had just delivered a message to him through Telepathy. The contents of the message confirmed suspicions he'd hoped were false.
Hiruzen sipped his tea calmly before looking up over the rim of his cup at the man seated across from him. "Kumo declares war on the Land of Fire with seemingly no provocation, bringing pain and death to both our lands, yet I offer peace in spite of this. I offer mercy in spite of the fact that you sought peace only when my shinobi were at your door, and my kindness was met with treachery?" he said, his voice that of a frozen glacier, cold and powerful.
A, Raikage of Kumogakure, narrowed his eyes. "I do not know what you think you are insinuating, Hiruzen, but I would warn you to think before you speak."
Hiruzen could feel his rage building, but he let none of it show. "You enter my village under the guise of peace. You eat at my table. You rest in my home. And you repay my hospitality by attempting to harm my people? To harm two children?" Hiruzen's teacup twitched almost imperceptibly. He was having difficulty controlling his temper. He really was getting too old for his position.
A was scowling at him now. "I do not appreciate your baseless accusations, Hiruzen."
"Two nin attempted to kidnap children from the Hyuga Clan Compound not ten minutes ago. Both of them failed. We have taken them into custody. They consumed poison capsules in an attempt to evade capture. They did not count on their captor's proficiency in poison preventing the capsules from killing them. Soon, we will know who sent them. A, I am offering you one chance to ask forgiveness for this crime. There will not be another."
A's glare was gone, an impassive mask taking its place. He was silent. "If this is true, I would ask for your permission to see the prisoners. Such an operation would not have been planned with my authorization. If the culprits are from my village, then I will take the necessary steps to ensure Konoha is placated."
Hiruzen let none of his feelings show on his face. Like he expected, A would not admit to having a hand in the crime. No, A would claim they worked independent of Kumogakure and offer concessions to appease Konohagakure. Hiruzen knew pressing A would not secure any benefit for the village.
"If they are from your village," Hiruzen said, allowing A his transparent lie. "I will expect reparations to be paid to both Konoha and the Hyuga Clan themselves."
A grunted. "If it is confirmed that they are from my village, you will have your reparations."
"Good." Hiruzen lifted the pot in front of him. "May I offer you more tea?"
As he filled A's cup, Hiruzen's mind wandered to the events his ANBU were still reporting to him. His guards were giving him regular updates on the state of the investigation with Telepathy. One of the assailants had died, but the second was stable and properly restrained.
What would have happened if the culprit had died? What would have happened if they were not prepared for this treachery? Hiruzen did not know, and dwelling on such a bleak outcome would do him no good. It was best to focus on dealing with what had transpired rather than what may have.
Hiruzen knew who he had to thank for such a favorable outcome. Placing young Shinto in ANBU was the right choice, even if Hiruzen still could not forgive himself for it.
Perhaps he would give the boy some time off to be a child? Both he and his team deserved it.