CHAP 11
"Kaasan." Tenten whispered, her voice shaking slightly. "Then, that makes you my uncle?" She said, looking up.
Kyousuke met her gaze with a slight smile, before he bowed his head. "If I had known what my brother was up to, I would have stopped him sooner. I am sorry."
Tenten was silent for a moment before she threw herself at him and began crying.
"Hakufu!"
Kyousuke was obviously shocked, but he recovered quickly and returned the hug in an attempt to calm her down.
The rest of Team 3 watched in confusion and awe as the scene unfolded. When Kyousuke busied himself with comforting his niece, Naruto turned to Itachi. "So," He began. "Tenten's uncle is the Tsuchikage."
Liu hit him across the head. "Baka. That's what Kyousuke-sama just said."
Naruto laughed nervously. "I know. I was just checking to see that everyone heard the same thing. Could have been dreaming, right?"
Itachi smiled. "I understand what you mean, Naruto-kun. It certainly was a shock. Hokage-sama will be extremely excited to hear this."
Lee frowned. "Why's that?"
The black haired jounin didn't have the time to answer, as Neji beat him to it. "Because a connection to the Tsuchikage like this will do a lot of good when it comes to repairing the relationship between Konoha and Iwa. It might seem a little insensitive, using Tenten's family like this, but first and foremost, 'a Hokage's duty is to protect the village.'" He looked up at Itachi and smirked. "Am I right?"
He laughed. "Some days, I don't even know why I bother."
:0:0:
It was an unspoken agreement between the genin that they would let Tenten spend time alone with her uncle. Although, as the Tsuchikage, he was often busy, he always found time to spend with her, even though most of the time it was making her help him with the paperwork.
The other genin spent most of their time sparring in the training grounds dotted around Iwa. True to his word, Henzeru had been happy to let them into the other two training grounds, and they were often found sparring with the other Iwa shinobi.
On the fifth morning, Tenten joined them in the spar. Kyousuke was busy with his duties and had suggested that they all visit and stay for dinner later on.
Naruto, in particular, was interested in what Kyousuke did as Tsuchikage.
"All he does, really," Tenten began, "Is filling in paperwork all day. It ranges from filling out state documents to signing pay checks to authorising and classifying missions. The missions are what he looks forward to mainly, as there are a few really interesting ones that sometimes crop up."
The others listened to her as they made their way towards the tower later that evening.
"If he's not doing paperwork, then he'll be in the mission room, which is similar to our one by the way, handing out the missions. Occasionally, if he's lucky, he'll finish his work early and get some free time to spend in the village."
"Doesn't he ever get time to train?" Naruto questioned, bouncing up and down as he walked backward in front of the group.
Tenten frowned. "I didn't ask, but I don't think so. I'd imagine he just has to rely on his morning and evening exercises to keep him in shape. Why are you so interested anyway?"
"Because one day, I'm gonna be the Hokage!"
Neji raised an eyebrow. "Hokage? That's a long way to go."
Naruto nodded. "Yup. That's why I'm gonna work extra hard from now on."
"Well, I'm rooting for you." Liu said with a smile. "Just don't spend too long shouting declarations in the middle of Iwa. If you do, we'll have a horde of angry shinobi on our tail. And then I'll never get to taste some of Kyousuke-sama's delicious onigiri…"
Lee turned to Neji. "I always knew she had an unhealthy obsession with rice."
:0:0:
As they neared the Dotonga residence, the surrounding buildings began to thin out. Situated on the outskirts of the village, and almost as physically far away from the Tsuchikage's tower as possible, Kyousuke insisted that he used the long trek to work every day as extra exercise.
After meeting up with Itachi, Kyousuke and the Komatsu siblings outside the tower, Kyousuke then led them to his house, or rather, his mansion.
The building itself had three stories, and as Kyousuke showed them, six or seven rooms on each floor. The garden mainly consisted of a section of the surrounding forest that was fenced off from the rest, with a large koi pond and a wooden veranda lining the back wall of the house. Luckily for the visiting shinobi, the dining room was one of the back rooms, and Kyousuke kept the screen doors open to show what he said was his favourite view of the garden.
As they started on the first dishes, Kyousuke asked them about their lives so far as genin.
"Itachi-sensei's a great sensei." Liu began. "He made sure that we all could work well together before we started on missions. The teamwork helped a lot with some of the more boring missions."
Lee nodded. "We used to make games out of them, and use them as extra training." Kyousuke raised an eyebrow. "Like, a shopping mission would involve a game of catch with the items. The point was to see how long we could keep them in the air."
Neji smiled slightly, even as he let out a sigh. "What they forget to mention is the number of times we dropped items. We had to take on one extra mission per item as punishment."
At that, Lee laughed sheepishly and ran a hand through his hair. "Hehe, I remember. Like that time we had to repaint all the houses on the east side of the village because we broke almost a hundred eggs."
Naruto laughed. "Ah, that was fun!"
There was silence for a moment before all five genin began to laugh. Kyousuke turned to Itachi and asked, "Are they always like this?"
Itachi smiled. Karuya and Henzeru, who sat either side of him, sighed. All three replied, "You have no idea."
Just as they were starting to calm down, there was a knock on the door and a chuunin stepped into the room.
"Kyousuke-sama." He said with a bow. "The border patrol has a report concerning Uragirimono-san."
At this, Kyousuke stiffened. Henzeru and Karuya also stopped what they were doing, and sent quick glances at the newcomer.
After a few seconds, Kyousuke nodded, and he led the chuunin outside, closing the screen doors behind him.
Itachi turned to the Komatsu siblings. "I assume that this 'Uragirimono-san' would be Kyousuke-sama's brother."
Henzeru nodded. Across the table, Neji snatched the chopsticks from Tenten's hand. "'Uragirimono' was the name given to Rouri by the shinobi populace a few years ago. It comes from the number of times he's tried to remove Kyousuke-sama from his position."
As he finished speaking, the screen doors opened again and Kyousuke returned to his seat. He noticed that the mood had turned serious and sighed.
"I see that you've been filled in." Several heads nodded. Kyousuke sighed again. "Since technically your mission isn't over yet, I guess you should all be informed of what's going on."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath.
"Rouri is going to attempt another coup d'état."
Karuya frowned, sending Henzeru a glance. In return, he nodded. Her frown hardened as she turned back to Kyousuke and spoke. "I take it that this time is different, Kyousuke-sama." She said. "You've never felt the need to inform anyone below ANBU before."
Kyousuke sighed and nodded. "This time, things are slightly different. Rouri plans to divert the attention of all our shinobi to a different spot while he and his elite team head for their main target, unhindered."
Tenten spoke up. "Just what exactly is he planning to use as a diversion?" Her hands were clenched in her lap and her jaw was set tightly.
Kyousuke stood up and began pacing. After a few steps, he turned to face them and answered.
"He plans to go to war with Iwa."
:0:0:
From his position on the rooftop, Lee kept a close eye on the streets below. His chuunin partner on the roof opposite was also on alert, looking for any sign of the enemy shinobi. Strapped to the two black belts crossing his new, red t-shirt, were two large shuriken. Karuya had given them to him a few days before, and Lee was counting on them to help him in the upcoming battles.
As if on cue, the first wave of enemy shinobi came running down the street. Lee forced himself to concentrate, before launching several well-aimed kunai.
:0:0:
There was silence in the room as Kyousuke finished.
"W-war?!" choked Karuya. "Wh-? How?"
"The border patrols have reported increased activity around what is now Rouri's hideout. Yesterday, they caught and interrogated one of his subordinates." He explained. "Apparently, he's been gathering followers steadily for the past few years, hence why we haven't heard much from him."
Kyousuke resumed his pacing, his hands playing with a kunai he had drawn from a pocket. "His followers are mostly missing nin, looking for a home. It seems he has offered them amnesty and status as Iwa shinobi after he becomes Tsuchikage."
At this, Karuya and Henzeru looked outraged, but Kyousuke ignored them.
"He also has several followers inside the village. The prisoner indicated that it was no more than twenty, so they shouldn't be too much of a distraction. The main problem is Rouri's diversional attack."
Once again, he stopped pacing. "Henzeru, I want you to report this to the main ANBU office. They should already know about it, but this will just confirm what they need to do. After that, head to the mission office and inform them. They should be able to spread the word to rest of the shinobi."
Henzeru nodded and quickly left the room. Kyousuke turned to Karuya.
"The evacuation of the civilians is up to you. Enlist the help of the academy teachers. They're used to running drills with the children. The ten of you should be able to get everyone into the underground caverns by midnight tomorrow."
Karuya nodded gravely, before she too left.
:0:0:
Tenten dodged a punch to her head, hands flying through familiar seals even as she jumped back. She took a deep breath, before calling out, "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu."
Several of the rebel nins in front of her were burned instantly, but she had no time to react as more replacement shinobi burst from the flames. As a kunai suddenly slashed through the fabric of her shirt, she was glad she had replaced the shorter top with a long one. The blade had narrowly missed her stomach, and she didn't want to know what would have happened if the fabric hadn't been there.
Metal clashed against metal. And out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the six Iwa shinobi in her group engaged with the enemy.
A fellow genin, no more than a year older than her, was pushing her way through the fallen rebel nins. Tenten's resolve hardened, and she jumped back into the fray. This was her uncle's home, and the people were his family. She wasn't going to let Rouri get away with taking someone else's loved ones, too.
:0:0:
Kyousuke turned to the Konoha shinobi. "I'm sorry that this has cut into your time here. Rouri plans to attack tomorrow at midnight, so I suggest you leave before that."
"I'm staying to fight." Surprisingly, it wasn't Tenten who shouted, but Naruto. "Our mission required us to spend two weeks in Iwa. If we returned to Konoha now, Hokage-ojiji would be annoyed that we didn't try to help you. Besides," He let a small grin slip onto his face as he glanced at his team mates. "I think my team would agree that we all want to help you anyway."
Kyousuke looked at their determined faces before turning to Itachi.
"Are you okay with this?" He asked.
Itachi studied each of his students carefully before he nodded. Kyousuke sighed.
"Alright then. Let's see. Each of you will be assigned a team…"
:0:0:
Liu watched with slight repulsion as a rebel nin dropped dead in front of her. She already knew when she chose to become a shinobi, that she would eventually be expected to kill.
'But that was eventually. Not so soon!'
Suddenly, several more rebel nins surrounded her. She was grateful for the leather plated shirt she now wore, as she narrowly dodged a kunai. Her faltering determination returned full-force, and she lashed out with a kunai of her own, catching two of them in the neck. The other four fell against a huge zanbato.
Liu turned in time to see Henzeru swipe his sword through three more shinobi. He nodded once.
"Keep up the good work."
Liu smiled grimly. "It was them or me." She replied as he continued to cut his way through the enemy.
'It was them or me.'
:0:0:
Neji watched through his Byakugan as a group of three rebel nins patrolled the corridor behind the main door. The map in his hands showed that their patrol would bring them past the door again in five minutes.
He sighed. 'That means five minutes to get in without being noticed.'
He looked to either side, watching as his team mates nodded. As one, they all slid down the hill and began running towards the door.
'Itachi-sensei. I hope you know what you're doing.'
:0:0:
Team 3 stood with the rest of Iwa's shinobi as they gathered in the Tsuchikage's office. They had all been split into teams, a mix of shinobi from genin to ANBU in each.
Kyousuke stood in front of his desk, one hand running through his hair. He brought out a kunai and began twirling it in what was his thinking pose.
"You've been summoned here today because of a recent discovery: Dotonga Rouri is planning another coup d'état."
There were several gasps among the younger shinobi.
"The reason you are all here is because Rouri plans to use a full-scale war as a 'distraction'. The blunt of his forces will attack Iwa, while he and his elite forces will head after their main target once we have weakened."
He took a deep breath and sighed.
"You have been assigned groups according to skill, so that each group balances out equally. Each group has been assigned an area of the city to patrol, with at least one other team patrolling at the same time.
"The information we have suggests that the rebel forces plan to commence their attack at midnight tomorrow. Therefore, you have until this time tomorrow to prepare yourself."
Kyousuke was quiet for a moment as he surveyed each team.
"Orders are to be taken from the ANBU members of your team. What they say goes, and you are to take their word as mine. Now, rest up and prepare yourselves. Dismissed."
As each group filed out of the room, Kyousuke turned to the only shinobi not assigned to a team.
"Uchiha-san, may I have a word?"
Itachi nodded and stepped away from the wall.
"I'm sorry to have to do this, after all the things your team has done for me, but I have another mission I'd like you to take on."
Itachi raised an eyebrow.
"I'm already paying your team for helping in the war, alongside the pay they'll receive for escorting the Komatsus." He explained. "This mission, however, is different. I have to ask you to agree to it before I give you any details."
Itachi frowned. "Can I at least know what rank it is? It has to be something pretty high for you to come to an outsider shinobi instead of one of your own."
Kyousuke sighed and pulled out his chair before falling into it ungracefully. "Depending on what happens, my guess is about S-Rank."
Something lit in Itachi's eyes. "Whatever your reasons, Kyousuke-sama, I'll do best to reward your trust in me."
Kyousuke relaxed visibly. He pulled out a thick folder and slid it across his desk. "This folder contains detailed reports of the location and layout of Rouri's hideout, as well as descriptions of the rouge nins we believe to be part of his 'elite' forces."
Itachi flicked through a few pages and nodded.
"Your mission is to eliminate Dotonga Rouri and as many of his elite forces as possible, before they commence their attack."
AN: Gah! Ok, this took way longer than expected to type up. I start school again tomorrow, which means I'll soon have an excuse to be on the computer. Thankyou to everyone who reviewed, I really appreaciate them. Oh, I've also made some changes to chapter seven. I really didn't like part of it.
Kaasan/Okaasan - Mother
Hakufu - Uncle
Uragirimono - traitor
Ojiji - Old man