Eagle One
Chapter Fifteen:
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! Believe it! Or don't. Really, it's up to you.
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"Captain!" Eagle Two yelled weakly, "Captain!" She stumbled forward, her eyes watering, her vision too blurred to distinguish anything other than the black robes of the ANBU, the hard brown of the ground, and the violent crimson of the blood that had been shed. "Sir?" She wanted to make sure he was still alive; if he was not, she knew the rest of the squad would most likely be quick to follow.
Eagle Five crouched behind a low wall, bullets and shrapnel making distinctive pinging sounds as they struck. Several other ANBU soldiers crouched near her, all of them suffering from both external injuries, and dull shock to some degree. She took a deep breath and heard the mask rattle as she exhaled.
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"Who are you when you don the mask?" Top-sensei roared, "Do any of you morons know?" several blank stares met his question, no one even daring to venture forth a guess in fear of being wrong. "When you don the mask," he started, "You disassociate from yourself, your world, your ethics, your pain, and your love.. you bring yourself to your basest and most primal instincts. You must learn to do this... to harness the part of you that lusts after the destruction of your enemies... because as ANBU, you are the best, and no one can or will save you. You must be your own savior." Top sighed, a subconscious reaction, as the memories of all the years he had served drifted back. "So," he said softly, his eyes snapping back into focus, "While in combat, trust only two things: your training, and your squad. Everything else is unnecessary."
"Sir.." Naruto said softly, raising his hand awkwardly as if he was in the Academy, "If we reduce ourselves that much, how are we any better than the people we're going to be fighting?"
"Better?" Top chuckled, shaking his head, "At the end of the battle, the ones who are still alive, are the ones who are better,"
"I don't see how that could possibly be.." another recruit said.
Top smiled, but the smile looked more like a grimace, as if something heavy was burdening his heart and stabbing at him. "You will."
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"Hey!" a voice called, "Hey! Over here! Medic!"
Eagle Five looked up, pushing her mask back onto her face quickly, sweat dripping from her chin, "Bring him over here!" she yelled back. The ANBU soldier nodded and quickly picked up his squadmate, dragging him behind the wall. "What happened?" she asked, more as a formality from her days working in the hospital rather than in actual curiosity.
"I'm not a trained medic or anything... but I'm going to go on and assume that it has something to do with this?" the ANBU soldier said sarcastically, pointing at a gaping hole in the side of the injured soldier's chest. It was deep and jagged, the chance of it becoming infected was extremely high.
"He's gone," Eagle Five said wearily, her body too numb to feel too much from it.
"Goddammit, no!" the ANBU replied loudly, "He can't be! Check him again!" Eagle Five frowned in annoyance and prepared a sharp rebuke when she caught his eyes. They were shimmering brightly with unshed tears that sharply contrasted with his tough and sarcastic exterior. Worse, however, was the hope she saw in the eyes, hope that she would have to dash. "Please.." he said softly, "We went through Boot together..."
Eagle Five took a deep breath and shook her head, her hand slowly moving over the gash in the wounded soldier's side. "He won't.."
"I've been wounded worse before!" the ANBU soldier blurted out suddenly and desperately, his tough exterior suddenly disintegrating, "I've been wounded a hell of a lot worse before! He's a better soldier than I could ever be! He has to be fine!"
Eagle Five sighed, her own eyes tearing. How many tears had she shed during the battle for people she didn't even know? She couldn't even count them. It was all the same. Soldiers, even on their own deathbeds, will lie to themselves, not for their own lives as would be expected, but for the lives of those around them. They truly wanted to believe that, though they themselves were expendable, their friends, their comrades, would never die. "He's not going to make it," she said again, firmly, "I'm sorry,"
The ANBU soldier dropped his head, his tired eyes finally shedding all of the tears that had been welling up in them. "I see.." he replied, "Thank you." the soldier knelt, silently pressing his masked forehead to that of his friend for several seconds. The moment was over then, the ANBU soldier drawing several shuriken. He then nodded to her respectfully and leapt away, back into the carnage.
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Tsunade rolled to the left, Danzou's sword slashing through her right shoulder. It was a lucky dodge, more instinct on her part than conscious effort. She frowned; she could feel herself flagging slowly, all of her years beginning to show. Another slash split the air and she dodged it again, the margin closing even further each time. She gathered some chakra to her left hand and slammed it into the wall, causing a enormous chunk of wall to fall forward; she then used her right hand and the chakra gathered there to slam it into her enemy.
Danzou frowned and lifted his sword to no avail. The large chunk of rock hit him and knocked him backwards. He quickly stood back up and reassumed his fighting pose, either ignoring or failing to notice the blood pouring from the deep gash over his left eye. Danzou's face momentarily lapsed, as though in thought. He smiled wryly and dropped his sword, reaching in his cloak and bringing out the small, wooden device again.
"A western weapon?" Tsunade said incredulously. Admittedly, she didn't know anything about western weapons, but she assumed they worked on the same principles their own weapons worked on, at least to a degree, "You're stupid, Danzou!" she exclaimed, "Something that small can't possibly do enough damage to hurt me!" There was a clicking sound as Danzou cocked the hammer. Tsunade frowned and lifted her arm to block the attack, preparing to leap when it discharged. A surprised groan barely escaped her lips as she slumped from the wound in her chest, her hands reaching desperately for the Genesis Seal on her forehead.
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Eagle One threw Kiba's dagger at the nearest Ne operative, the dagger scything through his neck and killing him. "Die so others may live!" he roared, the ANBU motto seeming a little more hollow and a little more empty as his brothers and sisters fell all around him. He glanced around, unable to see a single Eagle Squad member around him. It filled him with terror. He was unsure whether they had just been separated or they had been killed. He begged it wasn't the latter. He slid back behind a wall comically as another stream of bullets tore the ground where he had been standing into dust. He frowned under his mask as his eyes met a sad sight. A small ANBU soldier was huddled on the ground behind the wall, rocking back and forth, his eyes darting around as if they were flies hovering around day-old meat. "Recruit?" Eagle One said kindly, "Are you injured?"
The recruit shook his head and continued to cry silently, his will completely broken, "I wasn't ready.." he said, "Eagle Six told me I wasn't. He was right..."
"Eagle Six?" Eagle One said, his eyes practically oozing shock, "Where is he now?"
"He.. he went to disable the cannon, sir," the recruit said.
Eagle One's eyes, if possible, grew even wider and he quickly glanced over his left shoulder and over the wall. There, a solitary figure ran toward the tower that housed the cannon. It was Eagle Six, true, but it wasn't Naruto. Apparently, the gun crews defending the tower either believed Eagle Six was one of their own, or that he was simply driven insane by the battle and suicidal, because he somehow managed to make it within striking distance of the tower. "GENMA!" Eagle One yelled, his face under his mask draining of color.
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Shizune ran as fast and hard as she could. She had to get back to the battle and see if Squad Eagle, the people whom she could consider her only real family, were okay. She promised herself she'd find each member of the Eagle Squad and heal them personally. She promised herself that if any member of Eagle had gotten killed, she'd personally drag them back to life. She promised herself she would personally kill each and every Ne, if necessary, to get to Tsunade-sama who was more dear to her than a mother. She promised herself..
The sight that greeted her when she reached the top of the cliff overlooking the battlefield drove away any and all thoughts she had. All she could register was the familiar, small shape charging up to the cannon battery's tower. An eerie silence fell over both the ANBU and Ne as both turned to watch the apparently insane ninja charge the tower, the Ne ceasing all rifle fire and the ANBU ceasing movement. Small puffs of dirt floated around his feet as bullets impacted around him.
"GENMA!" a voice yelled hysterically. Shizune immediately registered it as belonging to Lee, taking relief, if only momentarily, in the knowledge that he was still alive.
The retired Eagle Six just smiled wryly and pressed forward, his legs screaming in pain as the bursts of chakra he was applying made them move faster then they could stand. The retired Eagle Six, Shiranui Genma, ignored the pain – it didn't matter. Either way, the pain would stop in a few seconds. He pressed himself harder, his body breaking down from the strain.
Shizune let out a strangled cry as the cannon commander ordered the cannon to be turned toward the charging ANBU. Genma – it was inappropriate to think of him with such a distant name as 'the retired Eagle Six' at a time like this – struggled forward, a bullet striking his leg but ricocheting off as if he were made of rock. Shizune gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in horror; Genma was reinforcing his body with chakra, forming a sort-of armor that would allow him to keep moving for a little longer. Reinforcing a human's body with chakra was a highly controversial technique, hard to accomplish at all and harder to control completely, because of the chakra's tendency to break down and destroy the internal organs of the body it was used on. It was sheer madness; the technique had originally been designed to reinforce the bodies of recently deceased ANBU squadmates in order to use them as traps or decoys. Using it on his own living tissue was nothing short of suicide.
Genma ripped his mask off, quickly inserting his trademark senbon in his mouth. Forming several seals, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, the disoriented-looking cannon commander appearing in his place; several bullets meant for the ANBU soldier struck him and he slumped to the ground, killed by his own allies. In the corresponding cloud of smoke, Genma reappeared, several feet from the front of the cannon. The Ne operative stationed at the barrel of the cannon reacted quickly, kicking the cannon to realign it with Genma's new location, "FIRE!" the Ne yelled, "FIRE NOW!"
"Check!" the Ne operative at the firing position yelled, his hand a blur as he yanked the pull-cord that fired the cannon. Genma took a deep breath. Time, it seemed, stood still. He calculated the distance carefully, and spat the senbon in his mouth at the lynch-pin on the cannon. The pin was the only part of the cannon that was worth targeting; it couldn't be replaced, and without it, the cannon was nothing more than a large, unwieldy, and completely useless lump of metal. He had trained himself to spit the senbon with absolute pinpoint accuracy, more out of boredom than for actual use, but it worked in his favor now. The muscles in his arms had been eaten away almost entirely by the chakra he was using to reinforce his body and he wouldn't have been able to LIFT a kunai, let alone throw one. The senbon struck true, shearing away the lynch-pin mere seconds after it impacted with the charge already in the barrel of the cannon. Genma smiled.
The multiple tiny projectiles the cannon spat at him burrowed into his body, the chakra reflecting some but the vast majority passing through; even pure chakra had its limits. The chakra reinforcement kept him alive though, his death guaranteed the moment his chakra ran dry. Genma shook gently. He was cold. The Ne operatives that had manned the cannon all turned toward him, their eyes filled with astonishment and maybe even a grudging respect. The Ne operative who had kicked the cannon slowly drew his sidearm pistol, pointing it at the obviously dying ninja's head.
Shizune let loose a fearsome barrage of needles. She usually refrained from hitting enemies anywhere but the chest – she felt it was too cruel to hit anyone, even an enemy in the head or neck, but today was not 'usual' in any way. She aimed for the head, the eyes, the neck, anything that would kill the bastards. The poisoned needles all impacted, most of the Ne operatives dying without even fully grasping what had happened. The remaining Ne operatives around the cannon were cut down by Eagle One, his kunai flashing in the air and spilling blood left and right.
Both Eagle One and Shizune had run toward Genma in the silence. Eagle One, his dedication to Genma as a squadmember, a sort-of-advisor in the ANBU, a close personal friend, and a member of their ANBU family driving him forward in the shocked silence that fell over the battlefield. He was fueled through pure loyalty.
Shizune had a different reason. Ever since she was a child, she had been with the Sannin, Tsunade. She was Dan's younger sister. Dan was Tsunade's lover before she left Konoha; Shizune had been taken by Tsunade as a personal favor to him after his death. She had heard Tsunade cry over her love's premature death and she had, at a young age, decided to ignore the feeling of love. It seemed too painful to lose the one you loved, and the joy seemed too transient. It didn't seem worth it, to bare your heart and soul and hope the one you handed it to would not drive a dagger through it, either accidentally or not. She had fared rather well with this personal philosophy. She did develop a few crushes over the years but they were easily enough ignored with enough willpower. She then joined the ANBU and entered Eagle Squad as the squad's qualified medical ninja. She knew Genma before, having worked with him on various missions in their tokubetsu jounin cell, but never realized then, that there was more to his tough persona. In Eagle Squad, she began to learn about him, peering into his psyche and realizing that he really wasn't as shallow as he pretended to be. As the more senior members of the almost all-rookie Eagle Squad, she and Genma had constantly been in contact, training the rookies, advising them, and generally making sure the rookies understood what the ANBU stood for. She loved his sense of humor and quirky attitude. The first time she felt an overwhelming surge of love for her squadmate, she immediately gave herself a self-diagnosis and convinced herself she was ill. The second time, she did the same. The third time, however, she simply couldn't ignore it any more. She had always told herself – being a medical specialist – that love, as powerful as it was, was a simple emotion, just electrical signals in the brain and no more. She always believed she could defeat it with enough willpower. She was horribly, horribly wrong.
Eventually she came face-to-face with the fact. She berated herself enormously for falling in love with a squadmate and endangering the cohesion of the squad for her own selfish reasons. She ordered herself as an ANBU-nin to ignore her own personal feelings for the betterment of the squad. She cursed her weakness and lack of willpower. She struggled with it and nearly lost several times. She was still struggling with it.
When she saw Genma run forward, almost suicidally; she found she no longer saw love as a transient emotion that weaker people allowed to control their actions. She had started running toward him, beginning to run before even Eagle One, himself, snapped out of his reverie. She saw him run. She saw him remove his mask.
And she saw him fall.
"Genma-kun!" Shizune yelled, sliding next to him and checking his wounds. They were horrible. Western weapons were truly horrifying; they were specially made to bludgeon, gouge, and rip so there'd be nothing but pulp to heal. Healing was not magic; she couldn't reassemble something that simply wasn't there. Death was part of a medic-nin's job; they faced it and tried to subvert it every single day. Sometimes they were successful, sometimes they were not. The very first thing a medic-nin learned was not to have a personal attachment to any patient. Even if they were your brother or sister outside of the hospital, on the operating table, they were strangers. This helps the medical personnel stay objective and keep their calm. Shizune was currently about four-hundred steps away from calm.
"Is there anything you can do?" Eagle One asked urgently, his eyes trembling at the extensive wounds that were visible on Genma's body. "Anything at all?" Eagle One's eyes were hopeful, almost pleading for there to be some loophole in human physiology that would allow Genma to live.
Shizune hated that look. That DAMN look that every single relative or friend of the patient had. The look that portrayed the smallest, most fragile hope that their friend or loved one would be okay in the end. Was there anything she could do? She could do whatever she damn well pleased. Was there anything she could do that would help? No, nothing. The world swam before her eyes and she blinked several times before noticing that she was crying bitterly. "Hey Captain... Shizune-chan..." Genma whispered. His eyes were unfocused but he still managed to smile at them both, bravely, "Cheer up... it looks like someone died over here..."
Shizune couldn't help but chuckle. Even in his final hours, Genma utterly failed to be serious. It was a little funny in a sad way. "I see you finally found a use for that stupid toothpick..." she said softly, both of them joking as if they were in Hirogohan's eating lunch or in the ANBU deployment room simply relaxing after a mission.
Eagle One frowned and leapt forward, knocking Shizune down to safety. The Ne had resumed firing. "Help me get Genma behind the tower!" Eagle One yelled, grabbing one of Genma's limp arms. Shizune nodded and grabbed the other; together, they somehow managed to get him behind cover and out of harm's way.
"Take care of Eagle," Genma muttered seriously, "Or I'll really kick your ass, thickbrow."
"Of course."
Genma shuddered again. His chakra was almost gone. There was one last thing he absolutely had to say. "Shizune-chan?" Genma whispered. Shizune jumped as if she had been absorbed in her own thoughts. "I'm sorry if this offends you," he said hesitatingly, "I didn't want to tell you before because I was afraid of what it would do to the squad... but now it really doesn't matter." Genma took a deep breath, "I love you. I have for a long time," he smiled in that odd way that made her heart light up every time she saw it, "I always wanted you to love me back but I guess I failed..."
Shizune closed her eyes in pain as she heard the first part of his confession and then reopened them when he finished, her eyes blood-red, "I love you too, Genma," she said, searching her mind for the correct words to express herself, "I didn't realize..."
Eagle One looked away, "Shizune-chan.." he said softly, his voice trembling, every fiber of his soul protesting what he knew he had to say, "Please look at Genma more closely.."
Shizune frowned and peered at her love's injured body. Her breath caught in her throat. He'd run out of chakra just as he'd finished his confession, dying just as Shizune reopened her eyes. He had never heard her. He was the first Eagle Squad member, current or former, to die.
He died believing his love was unrequited.
Shiranui Genma – ANBU Squad Fifteen (RET. // RETIRED) – Designation: Eagle Six/ Demolitions Specialist/ ANBU Lev1: KIA – Age: Thirty-Six
"Shizune-chan..." Eagle One said, "Please retreat and head to a safe location," His voice sounded tired and weak but he still stood strong, "I must return to the battle." She nodded and backed away, quickly dodging and weaving through the ranks of the ANBU running in the opposite direction. Her running grew slower and slower and eventually stopped when she reached the stronghold where the rookie ANBU, who were yet to be assigned to a squad, had gathered up all those who lived near the battlefield for their own safety. She nodded to the sentry on-duty, leaned against a tree, and collapsed.
Eagle Two slumped behind the wall, pressing her back to it. She had hoped to never see a squadmate die in combat, or even die period, in her life. She refused to cry. She was the noncom and second-captain for the squad; she needed to be an example. She refused to cry, ordered herself not to, and even shut her eyes as tightly as she could to stop them, but the tears came anyway.
The ANBU ninja were now slowly but surely advancing on the Hokage's building. The cannon had pinned them down in the low ground in front of the tower and now it was silent; the surviving ANBU soldiers, as few as they were, charged forward again, screaming for the blood of their enemies. The ANBU rushed forward, their charge resembling an enormous writhing spear more than an actual group of living human beings. It was simply frightening to behold.
Unfortunately, the Ne wasn't so easily intimidated. They fought back, firing until several portions of the defensive line reported that they were low on or completely out of ammunition. The bulk of the fire, however, was too powerful. The ANBU simply had taken too many casualties. The battlefield which once writhed with fighting ANBU soldiers lay, for the most part, still. The spear of attack pressed forward, but it hesitated now, and then it then literally shattered, ANBU soldiers breaking apart in a panic and once again trying to establish their own initiative. Though it wasn't apparent from their positions in the battle, the ANBU had lost most of the will to fight. Most squads had lost too many ranked personnel to function, lower-ranked ninja, that simply were not ready for the mantle of command, finding themselves as squad leaders or seconds.
Eagle Six stumbled, a deep gash on his chest leaking blood at a dangerous rate, "Eagle Five!" he yelled, his mind spinning and his thoughts disjointed from the blood-loss. He quickly focused more chakra and created three Kage Bushins. The Bushins disappeared almost instantly, the three of them absorbing the bullets that were heading toward the actual Eagle Six. He collapsed, curling into a ball and shivering.
"Oh no, you're not allowed to die just yet."
Eagle Six staggered to his feet again, his pupils beginning to narrow. He could feel his self-control waning, a slow euphoria creeping over him as his power expanded almost three-fold. He grinned.
Eagle Two rushed forward, clearing the open ground between her position and Eagle One's. "Captain!" she yelled hoarsely, "Eagle Six! Sir!"
Eagle One turned. His mind was slowing down and he was becoming indecisive, the lethargia of battle affecting him in every way. He didn't know what to do. A voice in his mind screamed at him to do something. To act. To do something, no matter what it was. If the Kyuubi came loose, there'd be a larger chance that it would attack the ANBU soldiers surrounding it than the Ne operatives in the tower. Either way, it would be a bloodbath. "Eagle Six!" he yelled desperately, "Stop!"
Eagle Six stirred and his training kicked in. Even in the throes of the Kyuubi's venomous chakra, he found some part in him that was still rational. "Sir?" he called with difficulty.
"Eagle Six!" Eagle One yelled, "You need to..." the ANBU captain's words were cut off as his eyes drifted to the front of the tower. The clacking of rifles stopped. The shouting of men stopped. Even the gasping breaths of the wounded seemed to stop. Suddenly, everything was utterly silent.
It was Danzou.
He looked dangerous, his eyes filled with bloodlust, practically exuding hatred, "ANBU scum!" he yelled, kicking something off the top of the tower, "See what you died so foolishly to protect!" The large shape fell from the tower, twisting slightly as it fell. Godaime Hokage.
"It can't be..." Eagle Two screamed, horrified, "It can't!"
"Damn..." Eagle One muttered – looking away, unable to believe what he had seen. Danzou chuckled softly, the Ne units suddenly exploding into animalistic screams of victory. That was it. The will of the ANBU soldiers broke. There was a flurry of motion, this time in the opposite direction, almost every single ANBU soldier deserting the battle as fast as they could.
Eagle Six closed his eyes, the shock of what had happened drowning out even the Kyuubi. Logical thought abandoned him, and he fled.
Eagle Two swallowed hard, her eyes filled with guilt and shame as she turned to Eagle One, "Sir?" she said softly, as if asking him for approval. Eagle One didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. He nodded.
"Squad Eagle... disengage." he said, as if it was needed to be said.
They ran.
Every single ANBU that could move disengaged from the battle. The Ne didn't stop them. They didn't have to. The Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokusho Butai, formerly the most feared group of ninja in the world, fled from the scene of their greatest disgrace.
Danzou was now the Hokage.
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The Commander, Morino Ibiki, closed his eyes. Every commander in the room was silent. Ibiki drew a kunai, pressing it to his neck. No one stopped him. The other commanders looked away. There was a slashing sound, gurgling, and a thud. "Dismissed..." the next highest ranked officer whispered, his voice dead and hopeless.
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"That is the current situation..." Lee said softly, his eyes roaming from one squad-member to another, "The Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokusho Butai has been declared a subversive and treasonous group by Danzou..."
"Ninety-four..." Tenten said softly, interrupting her captain, "I still can't believe there were ninety-four percent casualties..." The usually stoic girl suddenly closed her eyes, "And we lost the Hokage..."
"I... I can't believe it..." Temari said bitterly, "That bastard, Danzou, won..."
"Yeah..." Kiba spat, "He won... he won, and now we're all criminals..."
"Most of the villagers probably won't enforce it..." Sakura said, feigning optimism. "They know that Danzou isn't a true Hokage..."
"What do we do next, Lee?" Temari asked, "What should be our objective?"
Lee hung his head, his tired eyes looking absolutely dejected, "I... I have no idea..." he admitted.
A sudden chuckle broke the new silence in the room, Hinata sadly burying her face in her hands, "I was useless again..." she whispered, "I was needed... and I was useless again..." Quiet sobs rose in her throat and she looked away.
The entire squad looked absolutely devastated. They all stared at the ground, each silently blaming themselves for the squad's failure. "We lost..." Tenten said hopelessly, reiterating the thought that was flitting across each of their minds. "We failed Konoha..."
"We did our best..." Lee said, his voice hollow, "We did all we could..."
"And we still lost..." Kiba said sarcastically, "Whee-hee! What a swell job..."
"Well, don't lift the mood too damn much," Naruto snapped. A small squabble ensued, much yelling issuing from both ninja.
"Temari-chan," Lee interrupted, "Will your brother send us help?"
"He may... it really depends on whether or not the village is willing to follow his orders though..." Temari admitted, "The Kagekage is more of a figurehead than anything... the real power lies in the village majority..."
Hinata activated her Byakugan, sweeping the surroundings periodically to ensure that no Ne operatives would accidentally stumble on their hiding spot. When she swept around the Hokage's tower, she gasped quietly. The Ne operatives were burning the corpses of the dead ANBU soldiers with Katon jutsu then unceremoniously dumping anything that wouldn't burn in a large ditch. Hinata felt sick knowing that some of the burning were not entirely dead, they still had faint chakra signatures, the Ne operatives burning them regardless. She winced as if she had been stabbed with a dagger when a Ne operative burnt Genma's body, but no one noticed in the dark of the alley they were hiding in. Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, feeling sick, but didn't mention it to the rest of the squad. They had enough troubles already; she would bear this one alone.
"Wait!" a voice called, "ANBU!" The members of what was once Eagle Squad jerked up, their eyes flitting around in search of Ne operatives. What they found, was a large crowd of villagers converging on their position.
Lee frowned and held up his hands, palms down, a symbol of peace, "Please, do not inform the Ne of our position..." he said passively, "We mean you no harm..."
A middle-aged woman strode out from the crowd, her eyes alight. "You bastards!" she screamed, slapping Lee with all of the strength she could muster, "Give me back my son!"
Lee looked surprised, his hand reaching up to the very slightly red mark, "W.. What?" he stuttered.
"My son!" the woman yelled, "He was a genin! He JUST graduated the Academy!" the woman continued to strike Lee, the repeated blows not doing any real physical damage, "He was killed by the Ne! Why didn't you protect him?"
Lee's eyes widened and he looked away sadly, "I... I apologize..." he said, "We..."
"You were supposed to protect us!" another voice from the crowd yelled, "It was your duty to protect us, and when the Ne fired indiscriminately, WHERE WERE YOU?" the crowd moved forward, pressing the entire ex-ANBU squad into the far wall of the alley.
"My wife!" someone else yelled, "She died trying to fend off the Ne! Not an ANBU soldier to be seen!"
"My store was destroyed by the Ne! I have no job! It's all your damn fault!"
"My two sons! Genin! Ne operatives attacked us and they told me to run! They said they'd hold them off until the ANBU special forces got there! The ANBU never came!"
"GIVE ME BACK MY SON!" another voice yelled, "WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE? YOU BASTARDS SHOULD BE THE ONES WHO ARE DEAD!"
"It's not our fault!" Tenten cried desperately, her eyes filling with tears. "We would have saved them if we could!"
"It wasn't your fault?" one of the villagers repeated in a mocking voice, "Then whose fault was it?"
"Damn it! Blame the Ne! They're the ones who killed them!" Kiba yelled hoarsely.
"It was your JOB and DUTY to protect both the common villager as well as the Hokage!" another voice chimed in, "Apparently, you failed to do both!"
"Is the ANBU too high and mighty to do their damn jobs?"
"It's not their damn fault!" Temari yelled.
"The Hokage's dead! Our children are dead! Our wives and husbands are dead! BECAUSE OF YOU!" someone else roared, "Maybe if you were more competent you'd have stood a chance!"
"We did all we could!" Hinata yelled, her tears running freely now, "We gave it everything we had!"
"SO WHAT?" a villager yelled, stepping up to the pale Hyuuga girl and roaring into her face, "SO WHAT? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SHOW FOR IT?"
"Leave her alone!" Naruto yelled, pushing the villager away from Hinata. The Hyuuga girl was trembling, tears streaming down her face like a faucet.
"Oh!" a woman yelled, "They have no fear in fighting us!" she pushed Naruto, the blond-haired ninja not even budging an inch, "Why couldn't you fight the Ne with such fervor, you coward?"
"WE LOST NINETY-FOUR PERCENT OF OUR MEN!" Kiba roared, "WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM US?"
"THEN LOSE THE OTHER GODDAMNED SIX!"
Kiba's face turned red, tears of both helplessness and anger welling in his eyes, "They died for you! They died believing that they were fighting for you!"
"But they DIDN'T fight for us!" the first speaker shot back, "If they fought for us, our families wouldn't have been separated and killed! Do you know what it's like to lose a family member?"
"Yes!" Tenten roared, "Because we lost six-hundred and ninety-three of ours!"
The mob was becoming dangerous, the villagers working themselves into a frenzy, "Live a life of failure and die with failure! That's the ANBU way, isn't it?" the woman who had slapped Lee screamed, "Then make stupid excuses?"
"How the hell would you know?" Sakura screamed, "You weren't there! You weren't fighting and dying with us! Shut up!"
"Why can't you understand?" Hinata sobbed brokenly, "We did everything we could! We ran into wholesale slaughter! We lost a squadmate!"
"You lost a squadmate? Well that forgives everything, now, doesn't it?" someone shot back sarcastically. The crowd drew closer, their eyes practically shining with hate.
A large villager pushed to the front and punched Kiba squarely in the chest. Kiba growled in anger and clenched his hand into a fist, raising it. "Stop, Kiba!" Tenten yelled, "Don't fight back!"
"No!" Kiba yelled, "Genma died for these ungrateful bastards! They don't even appreciate his sacrifice!"
"We're ungrateful?" another villager spat as he strode to the front of the mob, "What do we have to be grateful for? Should we be grateful because he died in a meaningless gesture that didn't even do us any good?"
"H.. He died because he b.. believed in helping you!" Hinata yelled shrilly, her voice rising rather uncharacteristically.
"Well, thank you, Genma-kun!" a villager yelled, "Thanks for doing nothing! Way to die like a pig!"
A kunai hovered dangerously near the villager's neck in the blink of an eye, "Don't you dare insult Genma!" Tenten roared, her buns unraveling slowly.
"Go ahead! Kill me!" the villager yelled in contempt, "I promise I'll put up less fight then the Ne! Then you can kill me like the coward-scum you are!"
Tenten trembled and sheathed the kunai. The ex-ANBU squad was being torn apart, the combined physical injuries they had sustained, the losses they had received, and the verbal abuse of those they had fought for. It was simply destroying them psychologically. Each squad member, by this point, had already had their composure shattered, each lapsing into frenzied tears if they hadn't already been at that state, their guilt and shame peaking drastically. The crowd continued to scream at them and curse them darkly. Lee hung his head, tears dripping uncontrollably from his face. He understood that the villagers were acting out of their grief and the pain of their loss, but it hurt nonetheless. "Aren't you even sorry?" another villager yelled, "Of course not! Why the hell would you be? We're not important enough to catch the attention of the elite ANBU!"
Kiba looked as if he wanted to make a remark, but Lee stopped him. "As an ex-Captain of the Konoha Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokusho Butai," he said, "I would like to offer my most sincere apologies for everything..." he bowed respectfully, his eyes downcast, "If there was any way I could possibly reverse what had happened... I would."
"Well isn't that nice?" a sarcastic villager said, "We lost loved ones but he apologized so I guess it's okay, huh?"
Before any of the ex-ANBU could reply, a lean figure pushed through the crowd, slamming tenketsu shut on several of the villagers and causing them to fall unconscious, "Come with me," Neji said softly, "I'm tired of listening to their shit."
"You're one of them too, aren't you?" a villager yelled, "An ANBU pig?" Neji simply tapped a tenketsu on the villager's forehead and knocked him out, not even glancing in his direction.
"Neji... what are you..." Lee stammered, his eyes widening, "You cannot attack..."
"We did all we could..." Neji said softly, "Every sacrifice we could have possibly made, we have, and have in abundance. If they can't understand that, then there is no need for us to seek their approval..." he beckoned, "Now follow me, you'll stay at the Hyuuga complex tonight, Hiashi-sama has approved it."
"But won't that endanger your family?" Kiba asked, "It would be better for us to hide out somewhere..."
"Danzou would never attack the Hyuuga," Neji said, "He needs their political influence if he's to secure his power as Hokage."
"Thank you, Niisan," Hinata said softly. She hadn't thought of asking her father herself; she hadn't really thought he would have approved.
The villagers still looked irritated but slowly separated, too late however, their damage had already been done. "Lee..." Neji said, not even looking back at the troubled-looking squad leader, "You're truly pathetic if you take anything they said to heart."
"Yeah..." Lee said softly. He looked tired, confused, and utterly devastated, as did most of the squad members.
Temari looked outraged. "Where do they get off saying shit like that?" she spat.
"They lost loved ones..." Lee replied half-heartedly.
"WE lost loved ones!" Temari snapped back, "Don't talk like they're justified in doing things like that because you feel guilty! Stand up for yourself!"
Tenten looked away and shook her head, "Sorry... I'm not going to the Hyuuga complex with you," she said.
"What? Why?" Kiba demanded.
Tenten just shrugged and sped off in the direction of her house. Hitomi was not even technically related to her, however, in the blood-frenzy the Ne, and seemingly most of the citizens, had fallen in, she may still be in danger.
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"All hail the Rokudaime Hokage! Hatake Kakashi!" the jounin behind the Copy-nin yelled, "The true Rokudaime!"
Kakashi frowned as everyone's attention turned to him, the crest of fire reflecting garishly off the sash he had received. The villagers that had refused to acknowledge Danzou stared, all of them hoping for some kind of reassuring comment or speech, some kind of sign that things would improve. For a hope, however fragile.
Kakashi held up a hand and grinned, "Yo."
Silence.
More silence.
The Rokudaime Hokage went back to reading his book.
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"Hitomi?" Tenten yelled, bursting into the house, "Hitomi-chan?"
"Onee-chan!" Hitomi yelled ecstatically, "You're back!"
"I always..." Tenten started, but was quickly cut off by her little sister leaping and clinging to her tightly. Tenten held her, burying her face in her sister's shoulder. She just stood there for several minutes, letting all of her grief and pain melt away, and then pulled her head away and smiled, "I'm glad you're safe," she said. "Let's head over to Neji-kun's house for tonight, okay?"
"Okay!" Hitomi said happily. They stepped outside and when Tenten was closing the door, Hitomi gasped, "Onee-chan! Aren't you taking your mask?"
Tenten stared at the white mask and the red streaks of blood. The obvious white purity of the mask being horribly tainted by the wretched crimson blood - the literal symbol of the ANBU - lying innocently on the table. "No. I don't want it anymore" she said softly, "It's seen too much blood that can never be washed away.."
Hitomi nodded, "Okay."
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"What?" Gaara said, his voice more concerned than most had ever heard it, "WHAT happened in Konoha?"
"An uprising, sir. The Konoha 'Ne' Branch of the ANBU has usurped the title of Hokage from the Godaime."
"I hope you understand, Kazekage-sama, why we are so concerned about this. Something like this has never happened before!"
"If we restore power to the Hokage appointed by the Godaime, Hatake Kakashi, it may lead to open war between the two sides of Konoha, also, that may pose a moment of weakness for Iwagakure and Kumogakure to attack us... I advise we stay neutral."
"Are there any reports on how Temari is doing?" Gaara asked urgently.
"No sir, the flow of information from Konoha has almost stopped entirely."
Gaara stood, his long Kazekage's cloak rustling, "I must go consider our position on this," he said, walking into his office and closing the door, "No one is to interrupt me unless it is with important information about Temari or Konoha. Understood?"
Kankurou chuckled and shook his head, "Gaara..." he said softly, "You care more for her than you let on."
"How so?" an elder asked.
"Didn't you notice that he named Temari first?"
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"Every soldier is a hero in the eyes of the public, until they lose."
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hey
this isn't the writer. i'm his cousin and i'm just posting this up here for him. he's having a hard time right now and i honestly don't know if this story is going to be finished or not. he's not really in any kind of mind to be writing anything at the moment but i'll post more up if he writes more. it seemed important for him for this last chapter to get up on the internet at least.