What I Wouldn't Do

Konoha was blanketed with fog. The air tasted like copper and the streets were empty. His schoolbag sat heavy on his back and he kept having to remind himself where he was because his head hurt so much that he couldn’t bring himself to think straight.

A half eaten pastry lay discarded on the ground.

It was cold. He tightened his jacket, but it did little good. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop shivering.

Maybe he was sick. Konoha winters weren’t normally this cold, but if he were sick then no doubt he’d be more susceptible to the weather. Maybe he should go home and tell mom. That sounded nice. She’d even make him soup. Yeah, mom would make him–

What was he thinking about again?

Oh yeah, he was cold. His normal black jacket was too thin for early December. Wind whistled around him, howling in his ears like a particularly vicious ghost. He clamped down on the sides of his head, hoping to drown out the sound.

“Hi, sweetheart.”

Everything stopped.

The voice filtered throughout the haze, coming from no particular direction and echoing all around him.

He started, spinning around and quickly searching the desolate streets for any sign of the speaker. “Mom!” He spun around again. “Mom!”

“Uncle Kiba and Uncle Shino are here with me. They wanted to say hello.”

“Mom!” He shouted again, willing his feet to move. His body felt like lead as he ran down the street. Everything around him blurred. He didn’t know where he was or where he was going.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier, but I thought I’d give you and daddy some time together.”

Dad? Dad was here?

He tossed his head about, searching for the man amongst the mist, but the haze was too thick. As far as he could tell, the village was empty. He was alone.

He started to tremble. There was a pinprick at the end of his senses and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something brushed his shoulder and he jumped back, sliding into one of the defensive stances his mother had taught him.

“Who’s there?” He glanced about the streets hoping to find a shopkeeper of some sort, but no one appeared. His feet dug into the dirt. “Oi, I’m training to be a shinobi, so if you think you can scare me you’ve got another thing coming, ‘ttebasa!”  

Nothing happened. He slowly began to relax.

“Hima says hi. She wanted to come give you a hug, but I told her you needed to get some more rest before she visited.”

He bolted upright, startled by his mother’s voice, and completely forgot about the strange feeling. He began running again. “Mom! Mom, where are you?”

He was in the village square. The large screens were playing something but he couldn’t make out what it was. The pastry was still on the ground.

“Mom!” He shouted again into the void. Fog drifted under his nose, bringing with it the unsettling scent of chilled metal. He stumbled backwards, hands clinging to the strap of his schoolbag. “Mom?”

The cold returned, now an all-encompassing blanket around him. It was as if he’d been dumped in polar water and allowed the ice to spear into his bones. He stood, frigid and rooted to the spot, his heart thundering in his ears as it fell into his stomach. Something ghosted over his mouth.

It was tight, clamping down on his skin and digging into his flesh. He desperately tried to yank the feeling away with his hands, but it was useless. Almost like fighting the mist. Tears gathered at his eyes. He tried to scream.

He was moving. His feet were walking without his consent. He had no control. It didn’t even feel like his own body.

“A lot of people have asked about you.” The ghost vanished, leaving him stumbling in the middle of the street. He gasped for air and looked around in a panic.

“Mom!” He cried. Where was she?

“I told them how strong you were – how brave you were being.” A choking sound fizzled through the mist and he latched onto it. He didn’t want her to stop talking.

“I know you’ll keep being brave.” He didn’t feel very brave. His body was too heavy for him to move any further and he collapsed into a ball in the middle of the street. Her voice was soothing – safe.

“That’s why I’m okay with what I’m about to do.” Do? He lifted his head up from where it had nestled between his knees. “Mama’s going to go away for a little while, but I know you’ll be okay here without me.”

What? No!

He tried to scramble to his feet, but his legs ached and his chest burned and his head was filled with fog. The little hairs along his body bristled.

“I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I’ll try not to be gone too long.”

“No,” he moaned from where he’d fallen sideways onto the dusty street. “Mom.”

“And in the meantime, daddy will be staying with you.”

Dad? Where was dad? His eyes flickered, trying to find him.

“He’s here too, but he’s had you all day so he’s letting me do all the talking.”

All day? How long had he been out? It was still morning.

“Hinata.” Shino-sensei?

“Yes, I know.” Know? Know what? He tried to lift his head, but it was just so heavy. “Mama has to go now, sweetheart, but I’ll be back soon, okay?”

No. “Mom,” he whispered weakly, begging her to stay. His body began to shake.

Warmth landed on his cheek. It spread throughout his body and drove away the cold. For a brief moment, he saw sunshine. “I love you, Boruto.”

“Mom.” He reached out his hands, trying to grab hold of her from wherever she was, but all he touched was fog. It clouded around him, condensing into the thick, cloying mixture he’d grown accustomed to.

Something threaded his hair and he curled back into his ball to retain that illusion of safety.

“Come back,” he begged. “Come back. Come back. Come back.”

The mist ghosted at his shoulder.

“Mom…”

"What do we have?"

Nara Shikamaru marched into the Intelligence Department with all the aplomb of a man two days short on sleep and feeling it. His hair was pulled hastily up into his signature style, there were bags under his eyes, and somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if he had built up enough extra sleep over the years to make it through the next few days. His face was inscrutable, but he twitched at every sudden noise and the fluorescent glow of the overhanging lights hurt his eyes.

Ino – somehow managing to look impeccable even at four in the morning – walked in step beside him, her heels click-clacking against the rough wood of the hall. Her expression was stony as she held a thin file over to him. "Sasuke found something. He wants to know how to proceed."

Shikamaru paused. "Sasuke is asking for orders?"

Ino shuddered. "You haven't heard what he found."

"It's that bad?"

"It's…" she trailed off, trying to figure out what to say. Frankly, it was too bizarre to accurately put into words. "Honestly, Shikamaru, I don't know what it is."

Crap. Shikamaru buried a scowl and resumed walking; stride a tad brisker than before. "You don't know what it is or you don't know what to make of it?"

"The latter," she said. "I sent ANBU to inform the Hokage."

"This can't be done without him?" Because Naruto had gotten even less sleep than he had, and Shikamaru was ready to collapse. If he could spare his friend even one extra hour to bring him up to speed later, he'd do it.

Ino shook her head.

The duo came upon their destination not long after – a giant, circular room surrounded by the glow of computer monitors. All around them a skeleton crew of analysts sat with their faces glued to the screens. It was a veritable web of information being tossed about and decoded. Most of the analysts were of the Aburame Clan, their garb standing out amongst their counterparts, as they perused the aptly named Web for any suspicious activity.

Beyond them, at the end of the row of monitors, stood an innocuous brown door. If anyone were to ask, the analysts would simply say it was a storage closet. They might even open it to show they weren't lying. It was just one more unimportant spots in a building full of unimportant spots. No one cared to watch as the former teammates walked to the door and disappeared inside.

The room they entered was smaller, with all the accouterments of a cramped boardroom. There was a large computer screen set up against one wall and the two had to be careful so as not to trip over the conglomeration of wires stretched across the floor. A circular table was situated in the center surrounded by plush chairs as the room's only comfort. Facing away from them, Sakura sat with her fingers stapled under her chin, her face set in apprehension as she spoke with Sasuke over the speakerphone.

"…not good. How many did you find?"

"Three-hundred twenty-seven. All dead, bar two."

"And those two?"

"I'd kill them now if I wasn't sure the benefits of keeping them alive outweighed the risks."

"Sasuke…"

"It would be a mercy, Sakura."

"Leave that for a medical professional to decide. Shizune-sempai was dealing with an outbreak near the capital. Her team was supposed to stay an extra day to help hand over the reigns to local medics, but we could easily reroute her. She'd have a full team at your disposal."

"The last team supposedly at my disposal died before they crossed the border."

Sakura didn't so much as flinch. "And they had been running full speed for almost a day. Besides that, Shizune's team has been on minimal contact. The likelihood of information getting out is significantly lower."

"Hn," Sasuke intoned, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "How fast can they get here?"

"Six hours," Shikamaru interjected. Sakura and Udon – who up until then had been engrossed in the tableside computer – twisted in their chairs, neither appearing surprised at the intrusion. "If they left now, that is."

"We need Naruto's permission to reroute a team," Sakura said.

"He should be here soon," Ino replied, crossing her arms. "I sent Tori to inform him."

Sakura and Udon nodded as the duo joined them around the table.

"Uchiha. This is Shikamaru and Ino. What have you found?"

"It's not pretty. If Naruto's coming, we should wait for him," Sasuke said.

"No need," came a voice from behind them. The group immediately stood at attention, bowing respectfully in concert.

"Hokage-sama," they said.

Naruto waved his hand, lacking the patience to deal with inconsequential formalities so early in the morning. He took his seat at the head of the table and motioned for the others to sit down. "What have you got, Sasuke?" He asked without preamble.

"Bodies. Over three-hundred."

"Shinobi?"

"Children." A pause. "Most of them are in test tubes, dead. A few seem to have been abandoned mid-autopsy. They're…putrefying."

"Putrefying?" Ino questioned. She and Sakura exchanged confused glances. "They can't have been there more than a month then. Is there any evidence of recent activity?"

"Not in the compound, and there's at least a few centimeters of dust gathering over the equipment."

"Zinc chloride?" Sakura asked contemplatively to Ino.

The Yamanaka shrugged and said, "Possibly. Could also be carbolic acid."

"And that would…?" Naruto trailed off, eyes flickering between the two women for an explanation. He tried unsuccessfully not to think about children decaying on a coroner's slab.

"Among other things, zinc chloride and carbolic acid have been known to slow down putrefaction. It would expand our window of time, but I don't know if it would be enough to account for that level of dust build up," Sakura said.

Naruto nodded. Of course, it would be something that. When was anything around him simple? His hand rose to rest on his chin in thought. "Sasuke, do you have enough storage scrolls to transfer all the bodies here for autopsy?"

"No, and I don't have the necessary materials to make them all."

Naruto grimaced and turned to his advisor. "Do you know of any way we can get those bodies examined before they’re too far gone?"

"We were discussing it earlier," Shikamaru said. "Sakura mentioned Shizune. Her time in the capital is a mere formality at this point and it would be easy to reroute her to Sasuke's location."

"How long would that take?"

"If we sent the message now, she could be there by mid-morning."

"Do it," Naruto said. "Udon, tell Shizune to reroute to location O-92 and await further orders. Wait for confirmation."

"Sir." Udon's fingers flew across the keyboard. He quickly typed up the message and relayed it to Shizune's team. All outbound teams were required to have 24/7 monitored communications, so it only took a few minutes before they had a response.

"Hokage-sama, Shizune is relocating as we speak. She estimates time of arrival at 1000 hours, baring complications." Just what those complications were went unsaid.

Naruto thought of his wife for only the briefest moment before stubbornly squashing it. She would be fine.

"Sasuke, do any of the bodies have any identifying traits?" Sakura's voice broke through the fog of Naruto's fears and he watched as she motioned to Udon. The bespectacled man's fingers lay on the keyboard ready to run a check on any missing children.

Sasuke didn't respond for a minute, though the group could hear muttering on the other side of the com.

"Sasuke?"

A sigh. "If you consider the fact that they're all identical 'identifying', then yes."

"Identical?" Shikamaru questioned. His brow furrowed and already Naruto could see the hundreds of different theories flitting through his mind. Naruto hoped his friend could come up with an explanation because he had nothing.

"I can't see any physical differences. I'd say they were all kage bunshin, if they weren't so obviously biological. Two of them are alive, but it will be a miracle if they live long enough to get back to Konoha. I won't risk touching them."

"Good. Wait for Shizune's team before you proceed. Are they conscious?" Sakura asked.

If they could see him, Naruto would bet Sasuke was shaking his head. "No. They're in incubators, attached to some type of artificial lung."

"Artificial…" Sakura trailed off with a sigh. "They won't make it back. Not even a miracle could manage that one."

"One of my cousins is on Shizune-san’s team," Ino interceded. "If they can get there in time, she could probably do a mind scan."

"On someone that far gone?" Shikamaru inquired, skeptically.

Ino smirked. "She’s got talent."

A frustrated scoff brought the group's attention away from the conversation to find Udon glaring down at his computer in annoyance. His fingers flickered and twirled across the keys in a blur of motion. Naruto could barely see what he was doing from the reflection in his glasses, and even then he couldn't understand it. "Is there a computer nearby?" The man asked, not bothering to look up.

A huff echoed over the phone. "Which one? It's a lab."

Udon adjusted his glasses. "To have the necessary processing power…it will probably be the largest one in the room."

There was a faint shuffling across the com as Sasuke shifted, searching for anything that fit Udon's description. The scuffling continued for a few minutes until Sasuke's voice filtered back through the chamber. "The only one I can see has more dust on it than Naruto's textbooks."

"Oi," Naruto grumbled, a few faded grins spreading across his friends’ faces.

Udon waved it away. His finger looped across the keyboard and then settled. "If it was only recently abandoned…" he trailed off musing to himself, and fiddled with the computer some more. Udon ignored the questioning glances of his colleagues as he glanced up quickly and said into the communicator, "Uchiha-san, can you tell if the computer is operational?"

"It turns on."

If Sasuke's goal was to make Udon's eye twitch then he succeeded. The man looked like he wanted to say something nasty but reconsidered only because Sasuke was just the type of shinobi able to kill him from such a distance. "Can you access any of the information?"

"No. There's a passcode. I'm sure I could figure it out with enough time."

"No! Don't risk it," Udon advised quickly. "There might be a termination sequence built into the system. You could trigger it if you don't put in the correct passcode. There should be a small box near the computer, probably with some sort of antenna on it. That’s the router. Do you see it?"

The group could hear movement on the other side of the com and then a sudden rumble of shifting equipment. There was a pause and then Sasuke said, "Black with two spokes on top? Wires coming out of it?"

Udon debated with himself for a second. "Is it the only one nearby?" Sasuke replied in the affirmative. "Then most likely yes."

"Most likely?"

Naruto watched as Udon's eye twitched again. He was going to have serious muscle problems if that kept up. "Yes, 'most likely.' That's the best you're going to get without me being able to see it."

"Tch," and it wasn't difficult to imagine Sasuke rolling his eyes. "What should I do with it?"

"Do any of those wires look like they fit into the computer?"

A shift. "Yes."

"Plug it in and make sure both the computer and router are turned on."

Another moment of silence pervaded the room until Sasuke spoke again. "Now what?"

"Now," Udon said, cracking his knuckles, "I take over."

Naruto could practically feel Sasuke's irritation and decided it was best to stop them there. "What will this do?"

Udon adjusted his glasses. "A lab that large has to have some way to store all their information. If I can hack into the router, that should allow me to get into the computer and give me access to the files. With any luck, this computer will have all the information I need. Otherwise, I may have to get creative."

"And how long will that take?" Shikamaru asked.

Tilting his head in thought, Udon said, "Depending on how secure the computer is, anywhere from a few hours to a few days."

"A few days?"

Naruto's scowl would have caused Kaguya to sweat and Udon was nowhere near her level. The bespectacled man shifted uncomfortably from side to side and he struggled unsuccessfully not to flinch. "It shouldn't really take that long."

"What would you need to shorten the time?" Shikamaru asked with a quick glance towards Naruto. The Hokage looked ready to claw at someone and Shikamaru would much rather it not be the one person capable of hacking Orochimaru.

Udon bit his lip for a moment as he quickly tried to calculate how many man-hours it could potentially take. "An extra team and the ability to go without sleep?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Realistically."

Udon shrugged. "A team of five would be a good start."

"Done," said Naruto as he crossed his arms. "Anyone in particular?"

Udon waffled. “There’s a few Aburame I’ve been in contact with that should have the necessary skills, but if I’m being honest the ones I really want are in Kiri. I’ve been in contact with a few shinobi from their new Hacker Department and their skills are impressive.”

“I’ll discuss it with Chōjūrō. If he agrees, I’ll direct them to you.”

“Thank you, Hokage-sama.”

“Who would you take if Kiri doesn’t help?” Shikamaru asked.

“The Aburame would be a good start,” Udon reiterated. A second later he added, “Sansho has also showed a lot of promise.”

“Sansho?” Naruto’s brow furrowed. “My Sansho?”

Udon nodded. “He’s very skilled. I’ve been contemplating sending him off to Kiri to learn from them, but if we can bring Kiri here then that’s two birds with one stone.”

Ino huffed, amused. “We’d better start watching our tech then, troublemaker that he is.”

“Nah,” Naruto waved away with a reminiscent smile. “Sansho was the good one. Tsukune and Mibuna were the troublemakers. If you think he’d be able to help, then get him on it. You can start working now and I’ll talk with Chōjūrō about your request.”

Udon straightened up considerably, a tiny grin pulling at his lips. “Thank you, Hokage-sama. If you have no more need of me, I’ll go put together a team and send you their files."

Naruto nodded and the younger man bowed with a clipped, "Sir." He rose and fled the room, muttering different algorithms under his breath in the hope that one of them would work in cracking Orochimaru's system.

Naruto leaned back in towards the communicator. "Sasuke, do you have anything else to report?"

"No. I'll continue searching the compound, see if I can find any other entrance ways. I find it unlikely anyone's used the main entrance in years."

"Okay. Report back if you find anything."

"Hokage-sama." There was a click as the connection ended, and the remaining shinobi felt their muscles relax. Fatigue set in. The clock above the door glowed a bright red, indicating the time at 5:00 in the morning. They had been talking for almost an hour.

Naruto tilted his neck twice until he heard a satisfying crack. "Alright, is there anything else I should know about before we leave?"

“I’ve the minutes from the council meeting," Shikamaru said through a yawn. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small scroll tied with an unassuming blue ribbon, tossing it over without a care. “Nothing of much note, though I recommend keeping an eye on Spokesman Tokatsu. It’s possible he might try to spread…unfavorable rumors.”

Naruto’s eyes narrowed as he skimmed over the report, before rolling it back up and sliding it over to Ino. She pocketed the document without a word. The Hokage’s teeth clenched. “I’ll take it into account. Thank you, Shikamaru.”

“Sir.”

“Is there anything else?”

Ino pulled out a scroll of her own and sent it flying with a flick of her wrist. Naruto caught it deftly in his hands. “The plans you requested, and an outline of who I want.”

A ghost of smile touched Naruto’s lips, only to cloud over a moment later. “I approve, only…Chōji – he was injured on his last mission.”

“I cleared him earlier today,” Sakura interjected. A quizzical frown was etched on her face. “Though I did recommend he should take it easy for the next week or so.”

Ino waved her off. “He shouldn’t need to do anything too strenuous. I talked to him earlier and he said he was up to it.”

“Up to what, exactly?” asked Shikamaru, eyeing Naruto and Ino suspiciously. Technically, they didn’t have to tell him, but if Naruto had wanted him out of the loop he wouldn't have even brought it up.

Naruto clicked his tongue. “The seals Tenten found on the weapons we collected. We might have found a way to figure out what they do.”

Shikamaru’s eyes gleamed in apprehension, but beside him Sakura only reflected confusion. He leaned over. “Tenten found undocumented seals on the equipment taken from the prisoners.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t have the time to try and decipher them. They’re breaking a fundamental law of sealing, and Tenten and I don’t know where to start.”

“Naruto…” Shikamaru did not like where this was going.

Naruto had the good sense to appear contrite. “Ino’s agreed to let one of the prisoners loose. We hope she’ll do something to clue us in to what they do.”

“What?” Shikamaru hissed. His face was almost purple. “That’s…that’s…” he whirled on Ino. “And you agreed to this?”

She shrugged, not the least bit bothered. “Oh trust me, I tried to tell him how stupid it was, but you know Naruto.” She side-eyed the Hokage. “Man could sell sand to Suna.”

“Right here, Ino.” She waved him off.

Shikamaru stared, dumbfounded. He whirled on Naruto. “Did you even think this through? What if they actually got loose?”

“We’re taking every precaution–”

“Hang the precautions,” Sakura stated fiercely. “Naruto, what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking we can’t let these people get any further ahead than they are,” Naruto responded with a tense jaw. “I was thinking about the fastest way to get us some answers.”

“Well you know what I’m thinking?” Sakura asked, arms crossed. “I’m thinking you’ve hit your head one too many times.”

“Sakura-chan…”

“Okay.” Shikamaru closed his eyes and took a deep settling breath. He splayed his hands as if to steady himself and then shot his leader a stern look. “First, let me just say I do not approve of this.”

“Noted.”

“Second, you couldn’t come up with something else?” He spread his arms desperately.

“Tenten and I don’t know where start, Shika. This type of fūinjutsu should be impossible. It makes no sense.” A shadow crossed his face. “Besides, I don’t think these seals are being used for just their weapons.”

The assembled shinobi tensed, eyes going wide.

“What are you talking about?” Sakura asked with a level of trepidation.

Naruto licked his lips. “Somehow,” he began, “these people managed to get into the village without raising any suspicions. Considering everything, that shouldn’t be possible.”

“You think they’re using these seals to bypass the barriers?” Sakura questioned.

Naruto worried his lip. His knuckles were white with the force of his grip. “Not just the barriers. Our sensors weren’t alerted either.”

“The sens–” Ino broke off with a small gasp. She exchanged a stunned glance with Sakura. “Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“Shit.” His fears were confirmed. Shikamaru buried his face in his hands. “This is getting too troublesome.” He shook his head to clear away all the invading thoughts. If Naruto’s sensing was compromised, they were fucked. “Okay,” he inhaled forcefully though his nose. “Ino, what’s your plan?”

“Are you trying to stop my fun, Shikamaru?”

“I’m trying to account for the holes you’ve no doubt left behind.”

“Typical.” She shook her head, blonde ponytail swaying against her back. “I’m going to lower the chakra inhibitors on her and goad her into escape.”

“And the weapons?”

“Your wife is helping me.”

“Course she is,” Shikamaru bemoaned. He rubbed the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

“She was quite enthusiastic about it, too.”

“Yeah, ‘cause she’s angry!” He lowered his head and groaned. Everyone was reacting with way too much emotion and not enough sense, and he was starting to feel like the only sane person in the room.

“Everyone’s angry,” Sakura remarked. She tightened her arms protectively around her middle. “And scared.”

The rest of the room sobered. Ino leaned closer to Sakura and mimicked her stance. “Inojin’s been sharing our bed the last two nights. He says it's so we won't worry, but I caught him huddled in a closet yesterday when he thought I wasn’t home.”

“Sarada’s the same. She's spending the night with my parents, but…" Sakura trailed off. Her daughter had put up a fight at leaving her mother’s side. It was as if the girl thought she wouldn’t come back.

“And we’re doing everything we can to ease that fear,” Shikamaru cut in. He shot both women a stern glare, his eyes flickering meaningfully to the Hokage. Their friend had gone tense the minute the topic changed to children. His jaw sat locked in carefully controlled emotion and if he clenched his hands any tighter they would surely begin to bleed.

Crap. Sakura wanted to hit herself; saying such things right now while Naruto was in the room was borderline insensitive. The image of Boruto fading on the operating table was seared across her memory forever; she couldn’t image what he was going through. The warmth on her hands – how they squelched and slipped with each movement. She'd never quite realized how much blood was in a child's body before.

“Naruto, I’m–” A knock at the door interrupted before she could speak her apologies. She grimaced as Naruto’s eyes slid right passed her. He motioned to Shikamaru.

The Nara stood from his place and moved to open the door so that whoever was on the other side wouldn’t be able to distinguish the occupants. A strained silence stretched throughout the chamber as Shikamaru exchanged a few quiet words with the ANBU hidden outside.

After a moment, Shikamaru nodded his head in a dismissive gesture and closed the door behind him.

“The retrieval team’s returned.”

“Their objective?”

“Down in autopsy.”

Naruto’s shoulders fell, either with resignation or relief; no one could quite tell. “Well,” he grasped hold of the chair arms and stood, “I guess I’ll head over there. See what they’ve found.”

“You mean you’ll go to bed,” Sakura countered, one hand drawing to her hip as she too got up from her seat. The guilt was washed away by stern concern. She stepped forward to block the door. “You need sleep and I don’t relish cleaning your deadweight ass off the floor.”

“Sakura-chan–”

“I will go to autopsy. I’ve gotten more sleep and can easily go for a few more hours. You look like you’re about to collapse.” It was no doubt due to his natural stamina that he hadn’t already. Naruto's usual tan was pale and waxy, and the bags under his eyes were so large she could use them to carry something. His clothes were rumpled, his hair a mess, and his sclera were bloodshot. Sakura was one yawn away from knocking him out herself. “You need to look strong right now for the village, and sleep is the best way to do that.”

Naruto shuffled on his feet. “You haven’t been read in,” he argued weakly.

Sakura was unimpressed. “Shikamaru,” she called, grabbing his attention. “Would you be so kind as to fill Ino and I in?” Her head tilted towards the other woman. “You’d like to help, wouldn’t you, Ino?”

The interrogator grinned, her teeth an unsettling white against the red of her lipstick. “Absolutely. I can’t let you take all the credit, after all.”

“Tch. As if.” Sakura’s arms went akimbo. “Well?”

Shikamaru fidgeted under the combined weight of the girls’ expectant stares. Naruto didn’t appear to have any inclination in fighting them, and he reasoned that they would have had to be read in eventually. Autopsy was already bogged down with the bodies they had; Sakura and Ino would need to be brought up to speed if they were going to finish within a reasonable timeframe.

He sighed. “Troublesome women.” Beckoning them with his hand, Shikamaru said, “I’ll fill you in once we’re there. And Ino,” he added with a glare, “you’re going to fill us in on this plan. If you’re really going to do this, it’s got to be airtight.” The blonde woman nodded.

“Wait a minute, I didn’t approve of this,” Naruto protested.

“Too bad,” Sakura informed. “I’m the doctor here, and I’m telling you that for the good of your health and the safety of the village to go home and sleep.”

“Sakura-chan!”

“Nope.” She held up her hand to halt his arguing. “You’re going to sleep, we’re going to autopsy, and you will get a nice, detailed report when you wake up.” Her fingers curled together threateningly. “Don’t make me knock you out.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Have you been talking to baa-chan?”

“No, but whatever Tsunade-sama said, I agree with.” She spun around on her heel and made towards the door. “Now come on, the faster we leave, the faster we’re all home.”

“I’m not a child, Sakura-chan,” Naruto muttered, but made to follow anyway.

“No, you’re not,” she agreed, gentling. “But you are my friend and I don’t want to see you collapse because you overworked yourself again.” She laid a firm hand on his arm. “Let us help you.”

“You won’t try to do everything by yourself, right?”

Naruto sighed. Damn it, Hinata. “Alright, but don’t stay too long. You guys need sleep, too.”

“We won’t,” Sakura said with a small smile.

“Yeah,” Ino agreed. “We’ll just get a feel for what’s there. Gotta be on our toes for later, right?”

His lips twitched. “Right.”

“And if we’re going to get any sleep tonight, we should leave now,” Shikamaru interjected, directing their attention towards him. “I want to get home before sunrise.”

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Right. If that’s everything?” They nodded. “Lead the way then, Shika.” His advisor shook his head ruefully, but deactivated the privacy seals and led the group out of the room, allowing it to lock down behind them. They hurried passed the rows of computer monitors and disappeared into the hallways of Intelligence. If anyone noticed them, they went unacknowledged.

As far as the graveyard shift was concerned, whatever someone needed out of that old broom closet was no concern of theirs’.

“Three minutes, Nata. Five jounin in three minutes.”

“Don’t come home in a bag.”

“You promise?”

“Hinata?”

The call of her name startled Hinata out of the thick fog that was her mind. Naruto’s warm timbre was replaced by a cold wind that whipped at her face. For the first time she realized how numb she felt, which was a strange contradiction as she could still feel Boruto’s hand in her’s. How long have we been running? She glanced at the position of the moon. Over an hour. Has it really been that long? It felt like hardly any time had passed since their covert escape from the village.

"Oi, Hinata!" Kiba's voice broke through again and she turned to see him staring at her with ill-concealed concern. "You alright? We could stop if you want."

Hinata shook her head, blinking so as to readjust to reality. Trees and branches surrounded her on all sides, with only her teammates to break up the monotony. She shot Kiba a reassuring smile, though considering the way he looked at her she might not have gotten it completely right. "Thank you, Kiba-kun, but I’m okay. We should keep going."

Kiba nodded, but she didn't need her Byakugan to notice the exchange the boys held behind her back. Their concern was appreciated but unnecessary. She was perfectly okay.

Off to the left, Akamaru gently nibbled Kiba's hand to get his attention and nodded towards Hinata's back.

‘Do something,’ he growled, only to be rewarded with his brother’s scowl.

‘I’m trying. It’s a lot harder than it looks, you know?’ Hinata wasn’t a vengeful person, and Kiba felt he knew her well enough to predict her reactions to most situations. In all honesty, he'd sort of expected her to spend her days sitting by Boruto's bedside or working on keeping Himawari distracted. The fact that this wasn’t the case left him more concerned for her psyche than he was altogether willing to admit. He was almost afraid one wrong move would send her spiraling into some sort of vengeance-fueled depression, and he wasn’t eager to go through another one of those.

Thankfully for Kiba, Shino didn’t seem to have the same compunctions. The Aburame picked up the pace, stepping lightly off each branch to run beside Hinata. "I confess, I'm surprised Hokage-sama allowed this," he said, breaking through the thick silence for only a moment. "From my understanding, a retrieval squad has already been dispatched."

"It has," she acknowledged, but the way she turned away from him raised Shino's suspicions. He glanced over at Kiba, looking to see if he'd caught it as well. He had.

"Are we to rendezvous with the team?" Shino asked, attempting to wheedle more information out of her than the bare bones they'd been given. Kiba knew the most about what had happened to Team Nu, but Hinata hadn't spoken so much as a few sentences during the trip. While he understood she had a lot to think about, they were her team and he wasn’t too thrilled about running into this blind.

She took a deep breath. "If we can."

Shino silently marveled at how she could make that sound like a resounding 'no'.

"And if we can't?" Kiba piped up, eyes narrowed. He leapt forward so he was level with them, consequently sticking Hinata in the middle. The moon was inching lower over the horizon and in an hour he would not doubt find himself envious of Shino's visor. "Are we looking for bodies? Are we meeting with the border patrol? You’re going to have to give us a little more info, Hina, 'cause, I don't know if you know this or not, but Nu was taken out within three minutes," he stressed. "A five-man ANBU squad dead in three minutes. I trained them. They were all jounin. There's no way that should have happened, and I don’t exactly relish following them to the grave."

Shino raised an eyebrow over his visor. "I was not aware of the swiftness with which they were dispatched."

"Yeah, well, now you know," Kiba said.

"We're not looking for bodies or meeting with the patrols," Hinata interjected. She bit her lip and shifted under the sudden weight of her friends' gazes. She knew they weren’t, but it felt like they were judging her – doubting her. "The retrieval team is in charge of Team Nu. Their only job is bringing them back to Konoha for autopsy.”

Kiba’s brow scrunched. “Okay, and what about us?”

Between them, Hinata took in a deep breath. Her Byakugan pulsed, the action immediately placing her teammates on alert. Shino quietly released a few of his insects and Kiba focused chakra to his senses. They weren’t considered so far out from Konoha as to necessitate this type of response. For Hinata to feel that need spoke more to the dire nature of the situation than any words.

A moment later, they relaxed. Marginally. There was nothing. Hinata took in a deep breath. “We're,” she paused to gather herself. “We are here to find out where Nu’s attackers originated."

"Whoa, whoa, wait, what?" Kiba exclaimed. He pushed off another tree harsher than he intended, leaving a deep groove in the wood. His eyes shifted incredulously to his teammate before whirling to Shino. "Did she tell you this?"

"No," came the laconic reply. He sounded mildly insulted.

"Kiba-kun–"

"No, no, no," he cut her off. "You just told us to pack for a few days journey and head to the Valley. I was like, 'whelp, okay, it’s Hinata so it can’t be too bad. If we’re heading there then it’s probably got something to do with Nu. Maybe we’re meeting with the retrieval squad or the border patrol.' You said nothing about an actual, full-blown scouting mission."

"We are a scout team," Shino stated, ignoring the way Kiba glared at him.

"Not the point, man." He jabbed a finger at Hinata. "Hina, what part of 'they came out of nowhere', didn't you understand?"

"No one just comes out of nowhere," she stressed. "They had to have some way of knowing where Nu was going to be, and if they were truly as good as you say, then it's likely they were already waiting there. They had to have some sort of camp. If we can find that, maybe we can get some information on who they were and how they knew."

"Seriously?" Kiba asked, disbelieving. He glanced at back Akamaru. "You understand me, right bud? You get how crazy this is."

Akamaru whined in the back of his throat, obviously torn. Kiba's eye twitched. "Traitor."

"Weren't you complaining just last week about how bored you were?" Shino questioned. He watched in amusement as Kiba blanched and swore under his breath. "I thought you would be more enthusiastic about such an endeavor."

Kiba growled. "That's not…it's not – arg!" He threw up his hands in frustration. "You guys don't get it. I watched that team get demolished. Two years of specialized training down the drain in less than three minutes. I haven't seen anything like this since the war, and you know what, yeah, it kinda freaked me out! So I'm sorry if for once in my life I decide to be the voice of reason." He brought his hands back down to his sides, took in the expressions of guilt and surprise, and shook his head with a sigh. He never thought he'd need to talk sense into Hinata and Shino.

"Look, I'm not saying we shouldn't do this," he reasoned after a minute. "Gods know these bastards deserve to choke on their own blood. I'm just saying maybe we should take a step back. There's a lot we don't know: their skills, how they fight, hell, we can't even say Oto was really involved. It might be better just to do a quick search with the patrol team, return to Konoha and come back with a bigger group."

There was a long silence. The only sounds in the forest were those of the team's feet against the wood and birds nesting in the trees. Shino was contemplative; Hinata conflicted. Kiba pretended not to notice the way her eyes wouldn't meet his.

"Perhaps," Shino murmured, "Kiba's proposal necessitates more consideration. Our opponents' abilities are unknown and our own knowledge of the situation is incomplete at best. Rendezvousing with the border team may increase our chances of success."

The two watched their words hit home. Hinata had never been able to hide what she felt around them. The famous Hyūga mask always seemed to shatter and break in their presence, so it was with little difficulty that they saw how she warred with herself. She'd asked them for help, and they'd promised to do just that, but even she had to know what they were doing was risky.

Her jaw locked and Kiba could almost hear the sound of her teeth grinding together. Akamaru ducked his head in concern as they waited patiently for her to speak.

"We can't," she whispered, sounding as if she wanted nothing more than to turn around and go home.

Kiba groaned. Hadn't she heard a word he said? He opened his mouth to shout at her again when Shino cut him off.

"Why?" he asked, forehead furrowed. "You are not one to take such risks. As your teammates, we can attest to this. Even considering the situation, you are being unusually stubborn and unforthcoming, which leads me to believe there must be another reason."

The Inuzuka raised his eyebrow. He'd thought she was just too emotional to think clearly, but Shino made a good point. Hinata was a kunoichi. No matter the situation, they were taught how to compartmentalize. Hinata would never risk their lives without a very good reason.

She swallowed harshly and kept her eyes on the path before them. There was another pulse from her Byakugan and even though her shoulders eventually relaxed, she still switched to the old hand gestures Team 8 had created years ago. "Spies," she signed. “Unknown. In village.” She ignored the way Kiba stumbled and Shino’s coat billowed with an efflux of kikaichū.

Catching himself, Shino started on an immediate fluttering of hand signs, and Kiba and Akamaru righted themselves almost haphazardly along another trunk.

“Where? How many?” Was the teacher’s desperate question, and Hinata found herself giving a weak, uncertain shrug. She herself was still trying to understand how all of this could have happened right under their noses.

"Unknown. In hospital. In barrier team. Maybe others," she continued with tense fingers, and then, hesitantly, she signed, "Mission off record."

"Off record?" Kiba signed back, eyes wide. Off record missions were, well not rare, as there wasn’t exactly a way to measure them, but certainly not normal.

Hinata nodded. Her hands twitched with nerves.

Kiba saw Shino’s brow furrow and flickered back the question he was also desperate to know. “Cover?” Did they even have a cover story? How was this being hidden from their families? Hinata’s absence would be easy to explain away, but Kiba and Shino’s families would ask questions. What would Tamaki be told? What would the Academy be told?

Hinata’s eyes pulsed and they all bounced off another tree branch. “Missions. Separate.”

Oh. Well. Kiba exchanged a stunned side-glance with Shino. That was the plan? They were on separate missions? While the village was on lockdown? And it wasn’t like people didn’t know they were still a team. Sure, Naruto could probably swing it, but it wouldn’t hold out for long. Eventually, people would start putting two and two together.

“Problem?” Hinata’s fingers flittered in question.

Akamaru whined beside him. “Many,” Kiba signed back. He had so many problems with this plan, but even he recognized the fact that the situation didn’t exactly lend itself to anything better. Luck just wasn’t on their side.

Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, I just–stop!"

Hinata's sudden cry brought the two shinobi – and dog – to a screeching halt. She sat crouched on the branch in front of them, ramrod straight and Byakugan blazing. They perched themselves behind her, poised to attack.

"Hinata?"

"I saw movement."

"Shinobi?"

"I couldn't tell." She moved her eyes frantically from side to side, trying and failing to catch sight of the shadow she'd seen. It hadn't been very big, but then most dangerous things usually weren't.

Kiba and Akamaru lifted their noses and sniffed the air. A moment passed where none of them moved. Then, Kiba lowered his head back down and exchanged low growls with Akamaru before shaking his head.

"We can't smell anything out of the ordinary."

"And my kikaichū report no abnormalities."

Hinata slumped. "I can't see anyone either."

"Nevertheless, if we are being followed we must remain vigilant."

"Right," Kiba and Hinata agreed, the latter still with her Byakugan active.

Kiba glanced around once and pulled out a circular, palm-sized device. He typed in a short code and waited a moment until the computer flashed a dim white. His eyes flickered, analyzing their position.

"We're nearing one of Yagi's seals. It was the first one we saw that showed any spike of chakra. At the time, it was so little we attributed it to the wildlife."

"And now?"

"Hindsight."

"We won't make the same mistake," Hinata said, lifting from her crouch. "Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, I-I'm sorry if I've betrayed your trust. I brought you along under false pretenses and I'll understand if you want to turn back. I–"

"Hina, stop talking," the firm sound of Kiba's voice cut her off. "Yeah, okay, you didn't tell us everything and, yeah, we're gonna have a talk about that, but if you think we're really gonna abandon you now, just because of a little danger, then you've obviously been away from Team 8 too long."

"I concur," Shino said. "We promised to aide you in whatever way we could because, though we are not related by blood, you are family. We will risk ourselves for you, as we know you would for us. We will not turn back."

Akamaru barked in agreement and Hinata felt her eyes mist and tighten with tears. She fought them back and smiled.

"Thank you. I mean that. Thank you."

Kiba shrugged, embarrassed by the sudden influx of emotions. "Heh, don't sweat it. I've been itching to get my hands on these people anyway. Hurt my nephew and destroy my prized team – they're gonna wish they never met us."

"My kikaichū have been restless."

Hinata huffed out a wet laugh but didn't comment. Instead, she flared her Byakugan again and shifted her attention back to the trees. "We should continue, then. Hopefully, we can get there while it's still light out."

They took off, wind whipping at their backs, deeper and deeper into the forests of Hi no Kuni.

"They appear to be clones, Hokage-sama," Shizune spoke over the com. "Actual, biological life forms. The level of genetic understanding necessary to perform such a feat isn't like anything I've seen before. Our current medical technology just barely skims the surface."

Naruto resisted the temptation to run a hand down his face. He didn’t quite understand all of Shizune’s medical babble, but he got the gist. The children in the lab were – at the very least – all genetically identical. Some of the bodies showed traces of different kekkei genkai, but they had no way of knowing which ones or how many until the medical unit could perform more tests. The live ones had lasted no more than a few minutes outside their containers.

"And you're sure they're all the same?" He asked, just one more time, even though he already knew the answer.

"Down to the last cell, sir."

Naruto stifled a sigh and pushed back the desire to slam his head onto his desk. Doing so would be unprofessional and the noise might wake Himawari from her nap. He chanced a glance to the little girl. She lay on the couch in his office, completely oblivious to both the conversation and the world at large. Her precious stuffed panda was squished between her arms, the thing almost as big as she was. Naruto's face softened at the picture.

"Sasuke has secured the lab for further use. We should have the results of the tests within the next two days, but I'm having my team seal the bodies we've looked at for transport back to Konoha. We'll do a sweep and bring back anything else we think are important," Shizune said, pulling Naruto away from his daughter.

He sighed gratefully. "Thanks, Shizune."

"Of course, Hokage-sama," she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice – the one that always made his insides warm with fraternal affection. He felt somewhat guilty at keeping the whole truth of the situation from her, but he couldn't risk her team overhearing. Plus, it was nice to have someone talk to him without it being tinged with pity. "If that's all, I need to return to my team."

Naruto nodded out of habit. "Right. Update me when you have more information."

"Will do. Shizune out." The line clicked, shutting off without the intrusion of Communications, and Naruto finally allowed himself to sink back into his chair. He rubbed a tired hand over his face and took in the quiet. The rare, rare quiet.

"Orochimaru's been busy."

Naruto didn't bother opening his eyes. He hummed in the back of his throat, but otherwise made no motion to acknowledge the other person. Instead, he draped his prosthetic over his face and slouched deeper into the chair. "Did you expect him not to be?"

A scoff and then, "No. Though, I’d hoped we'd never need to know what he was up to."

"What?" Naruto asked wryly, removing his arm to look at the person for the first time. "You thought he would just go away?"

"Thought? No," he dismissed. "Hoped, perhaps, but that's it. The man's too troublesome to just lay down and die."

Naruto smirked, amused despite himself. He straightened back up. "Only you, Shikamaru, would describe Orochimaru as nothing more than troublesome."

"Tch." Shikamaru rolled his eyes, moving to settle himself into one of the chairs before the Hokage's desk. "I could say a lot of things about that man, but I doubt you'd want them around your daughter," he said, glancing sideways to the still sleeping girl.

"And you'd be right," Naruto agreed, teasingly. The pair exchanged grins before sobering and returning to the matter at hand. "What do you think about Shizune’s findings?"

"I think Orochimaru's finally lost his last hold on sanity," Shikamaru uttered. He crossed his arms and bounced his leg in aggravation at the whole situation. A part of him wanted to throw his hands up in defeat, say he was done. He didn't, because Naruto looked like all the life had been sucked from him and Shikadai was home, terrified, but the temptation was there. His clan was walking on pins and needles, and the rest of the village was no better. All the assurances in the world hadn't stopped the heavy cloud of apprehension that hovered over Konoha.

Shikamaru sighed. "I will say this. I have an idea what Orochimaru wanted with Boruto." He waited as Naruto's eyes widened just the slightest bit and ploughed on. "Shizune said the bodies had evidence of kekkei genkai and Boruto was tested positive for the Byakugan."

"Positive, yes, but he hasn't displayed any hint of it yet," Naruto countered. "If Orochimaru wanted the Byakugan he would have gone after someone who's already activated it."

"And yet, he didn't go after Himawari," the Nara reminded. He ignored the way Naruto's jaw clenched and how his eyes darted to the girl in ill-concealed fear. "Now, that might have been because she was with you at the time and Boruto wasn't, but we both know that wouldn't have stopped Orochimaru had he really wanted her."

"You think he wanted Boruto because he hasn't activated it yet?" Naruto's forehead wrinkled up in confusion. Taking a dormant bloodline when an active one was available made no sense. Except, Boruto is my son. My first-born. He looks like me. That sends a message.

“Bring down the Hokage, bring down the village,” isn’t that what baa-chan told me?

But Shikamaru was already nodding his head in the affirmative, oblivious to Naruto’s musing. "The Hyūga are born with the traits of their bloodline. Boruto and Himawari are the only ones on record who've been positive for it, yet showed no characteristics at birth. Why?"

Naruto shook his head, puzzled, and still trying to make sense of someone wanting a dormant ability.

"Of course…" Shikamaru hesitated and gazed at Naruto with a somewhat wary reluctance. A stone settled in the Hokage's stomach. The Nara swallowed. "Of course, there's also the possibility that Orochimaru wanted Boruto for another reason. More specifically, an Uzumaki reason."

"Longevity," Naruto breathed out, the word tumbling from his lips involuntarily.

Shikamaru nodded, though in his head he also added the niggling theory that Boruto’s potential was only a secondary goal. "And chakra. Boruto and Himawari have both inherited your chakra capacity with the Hyūga’s control. Either one would be the ideal test subject for him, but Boruto was accessible. In abducting him, Orochimaru would have the perfect package: a possible Byakugan, longevity, chakra and control. If he could transfer that to those clones…"

"He'd have an almost unbeatable army," Naruto finished for him. A feeling of dread built up in his chest. The idea of either one of his children as test subjects in one of Orochimaru's labs made him sick. He eyed Shikamaru anxiously. "Do you think he'll come after Himawari?"

The other man tilted his head, unsure. "It's possible. With his failure concerning Boruto, he may feel it's worth the risk. At the same time, we've tripled security and warned our shinobi to be on alert. I mean, for all we know, it might not even be him. It could be someone else, and who knows what they would have wanted."

That was true. Their assumptions could be wrong. Naruto didn't think so, though. It made too much sense.

He leaned heavily against the desk and folded his fingers under his chin. "Sarada's records were also tampered with. It's possible he'll try to make a grab for her. Orochimaru has always prized the Sharingan."

"True, but less likely," Shikamaru said. "Orochimaru has more data on the Sharingan and, considering the contact he had with Danzo, no doubt he was able to collect at least one pair."

"Then why grab her files?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Why grab yours, or Hinata's, or Sakura's? I think if he was going to go after Sarada, he would have done it at the same time as Boruto so as not to give us time to react."

He made a good point, one that allowed Naruto to breathe just a little bit easier. It wasn't much, but it was something.

"If you want, I can assign an ANBU squad to Sarada, just in case," though they were already stretched thin as it were, and assigning a team to Sarada might not be the best decision. If she was targeted, however, and no one was watching…

Naruto heaved a sigh. "No. We can't afford it. With the increase in patrols she should be fine, and Sakura's already made sure Sarada's kept under watch. She won't be left alone."

Shikamaru felt himself relax at that. For a moment, he thought Naruto's sentimentality would urge him to make an unwise decision. In his younger years, he probably would have. Not anymore.

"What does Ikkyū have to say about the situation?" He asked, changing the subject towards Naruto's earlier meeting.

Naruto smirked and brushed a hand through the air. "Oh, you know Ikkyū. He's like his father. Made a big show out of telling me how ‘he just couldn’t believe it,’ and ‘it’s so sad,’ and ‘this is horrible, absolutely horrible’. I think he was crying. Shame that, his eyes were puffy and he had a very important court session to get to."

His advisor chuckled. “He’s cagey, I’ll give him that. He gets more done by making his court think he’s nothing more than a useless puppet, than we do by just being competent.”

“Stops them from trying to off him. They’re too busy squabbling for power between themselves that they don’t realize the man they think they’re controlling has been playing them all along.”

“If it keeps Konoha on top, I’m not going to complain. Not when he keeps increasing our budget. Did he tell you what aid he was willing to offer?”

“Whatever we need. His acting may be over-the-top, but everything he said was true.” Naruto cast his eyes downwards. “He was angry.”

As he should be, but Shikamaru didn’t dwell. Instead, he focused his attention on all the benefits such cooperation would bring. "All the better for us, I suppose. His ambassador isn't nearly as accommodating."

"Really? He's never come across that way to me," but there was enough sarcasm in Naruto’s voice to drown someone.

The Nara smirked. "That's because he's terrified of you."

"Could've fooled me," the Hokage muttered. Ambassador Takehani was perhaps one of the most odious, insipid men either one of them ever had the displeasure of meeting. "But the daimyō did promise me anything I needed. Takehani can't fight that."

"Good. We're going to need all that help if this gets any worse, especially if the two bodies down in autopsy are any indication.”

“Only two?”

“Mm.” Shikamaru nodded. “Aburame Amai was consumed by his kikaichū after he died, so all we were able to find were his bones. Izou Azami and Hyūga Shinjin’s bodies were missing. I shouldn’t have to tell you what that means. We’re going to need to find some way to map the Valley without sending another team out to slaughter.”

“I have it covered.”

“Hm?” Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow. “Since when?”

“This morning.”

Shikamaru felt his brow furrow. “It’s not even noon, how long have you been up?”

“Since eight. I slept in.”

“Eight?” The Nara sputtered as he leaned forward in his seat. “Did you even get home before six? Does Hinata know this?” Naruto fidgeted and Shikamaru’s eyes narrowed. “Naruto?”

“She knows.”

“What did you do?” Shikamaru continued, standing up and brushing aside his leader’s words in favor his body language.

“I have it covered,” Naruto reiterated, voice hardening. It should have been Shikamaru’s cue to stop digging, but he was too tired and too worried for his friend to listen to his own common sense. Naruto looked even worse than this morning.

“That doesn’t answer anything,” he spat. “Who did you send, Naruto? All our best are already tied up and the rest might as well be fodder. In case you forgot, Nu died in three minutes.”

“You think I forgot that?” Faster than Shikamaru could blink, Naruto was on his feet, cold blue eyes boring into startled brown, the Hokage’s palms smarting on his desk. Shikamaru’s breath hitched, fingers twitching behind his back, but he otherwise didn’t move. “I have spent every second since I learned that repeating it over and over in my head. A highly trained team slaughtered in less time than it takes to make lunch. I know exactly who was on that team. I know exactly who I sent out. So don’t you dare accuse me of forgetting, Jounin Nara.”

There was tense beat of silence as both men breathed. Jaw clenched and heart pounding, Shikamaru bowed first. “My apologies, Hokage-sama. I did not mean to imply you did not care.”

Naruto only gave a short, acknowledging nod before returning to his seat. Shikamaru remained standing at attention for a moment more before jerkily sitting back down. The uncomfortable silence stretched for another minute as Naruto skimmed through the report. A second beat and Naruto sighed, putting his head in his hands. “What I am about to tell you cannot be repeated. Not to Temari, or Ino, or Sakura, or anyone else. Understood?”

Hesitantly, Shikamaru nodded. His eyes involuntarily flickered to Himawari but the girl was out cold.

“At around 0400 hours, Team 8 lead by Uzumaki Hinata and consisting of Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino left the village on a covert operation to determine the location of Nu’s assailants. This mission is off the record. As far as anyone is concerned, Hinata is with Boruto, and Kiba and Shino are on resupply missions.”

Shikamaru stared. “What?” He asked, after the information reached his brain.

“I said–”

“I know what you said,” Shikamaru cut off with a wave of his hand. “I’m just…damnit, Naruto, what were you thinking?" The words were hissed and he found himself throwing his arms up in the air and leaning over to get in Naruto's face. The blond didn’t so much as flinch.

"I was thinking that Hinata was going to do this with or without my permission so she might as well go off with a plan that wasn’t going to get her killed within the first five minutes."

"And you didn't think to stop her?" Shikamaru questioned. "You're the Hokage. It is well within your power to order her to stand down."

"Oh, right, and when was the last time you ordered Temari to do something?"

"I'm not the Hokage!"

"Daddy?" The men immediately swiveled around – both mildly surprised to find themselves already standing – and stared as Himawari rubbed at her eyes to wipe away the sleep. "What's going on? Why are you yelling?"

"No reason, sweetheart," Naruto soothed, instantly plastering a comforting smile on his face for the girl as he maneuvered around his desk to pick her up. Shikamaru shot him a look that quite plainly said, 'We're not done discussing this,' but Naruto ignored him. Himawari happily allowed her father to gather her up into his arms, were she sat contentedly with her much smaller arms around his neck. "Daddy and Shikamaru just got really excited for a moment. Did we wake you up?"

Himawari smiled and shook her head, her hair tickling Naruto's chin. "No. I'm just not sleepy anymore."

"Oh, I see. Did you have a good nap?"

The girl bobbed her head up and down vigorously, drawing out a much-needed chuckle from her father. "Mmhm, I had a really good dream. Do you wanna hear it?"

Naruto tucked at her chin. "I'd love to."

"Hokage-sama," Shikamaru interjected before the child could get started. "If you have no more need of me, I’ll take my leave."

"Of course, Shikamaru. Thank you for your advice. I'll be sure to think about it." Like it was possible for him to think about anything else. Inwardly, he shook his head in dismay. Shifting his attention back to Himawari, he said, "Say goodbye to Shikamaru, Hima."

"Bye-bye, Shika-oji-chan! Thank you for helping, daddy." Her smile grew and she waved awkwardly at the man, her only available hand occupied by her bear. Shikamaru waved back.

"Goodbye, Himawari. Have a good day."

"You too!" She exclaimed as Shikamaru bowed, sending Naruto a reproachful glare over her head, and left the room.

Now that it was just the two of them, Naruto walked back over to his desk and grabbed his cloak, tucking it under his arm. "Hey Hima, how about we go get lunch at Ichiraku's and then go home and play, eh?"

Her little face lit up. She'd woken up that morning to find daddy sleeping in her bed and she got to go to work with him. This had to be the best day ever. "Really? You mean it? We can play all day?"

Naruto found himself grinning widely as joy leaked from his daughter's body. "Yep! We can do whatever you want today. I'm all yours."

"Yay! Can we visit Boru-nii, now?"

Naruto strained to keep a straight face. The question was asked so innocently, and she looked so excited that it hurt him to disappoint her. But he couldn't let her see her brother as he currently was. She would have nightmares for sure. He was not about to put her through that.

He carefully kept his smile in place, the edges tinged with apology. "Ah, no, sweetheart. Boru-nii is still sleeping."

"But he was sleeping this morning," she whined petulantly. "Why does he have to sleep so much?"

Naruto sighed. "Well, you remember how mommy told you Boru-nii got hurt?"

"Yeah, but that was days ago," she complained. Naruto huffed and silently marveled at how foreign that must be for her. He supposed to her – who'd grown up in a family with advanced healing – taking days to heal would seem awfully strange.

"I know, but Boru-nii got hurt a little bit worse than normal, so he has to sleep a lot in order to get better."

She pouted and looked down, her little fingers picking at her father's collar as a distraction. "Okay, but we can visit him when he wakes up, right?" She asked, gazing imploringly up into identical blue eyes.

"Yeah, yeah we can visit him when he wakes up."

She nodded thoughtfully. "And that's gonna be soon, right?"

"I…yeah." Hopefully. "That'll be soon."

"Good," she said, her smile reappearing. "I miss Boru-nii."

"I'm sure he misses you, too."

"Do you miss him?"

More than you can imagine. "Yeah, I miss him a lot."

"But-but mommy's with him right now, so he's not lonely."

His smile turned brittle. He hated lying. "That's right, mommy's with him right now, and he's got Sakura-ba-chan and Tsunade-baa-chan, so he's got a lot of company." Even though the last clone he'd placed in Boruto's room had dispelled with the information of Sakura’s too calm visage and her mumbled reply of running more tests. Considering the amount she’d already done, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know why she needed more.

"Daddy? Can we bring Boru-nii ramen?" She asked and Naruto pushed aside the fear in favor of wry amusement. If anyone ever doubted she was his daughter…

He grinned. "No, ladybug. Boru-nii can't have ramen right now," and he almost laughed outright at her horrified expression, "but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we ate it for him."

She turned contemplative, pursing her lips and bringing up her index finger to rest on her chin. She was absolutely adorable. "Okay!"

"Perfect! Let's head down to Ichiraku's and you tell me all about that good dream of yours."

"Yeah! It was so cool, daddy. You were there, and mommy, and Boru-nii, and…" Naruto allowed the prattle to wash over him. He could feel the ANBU surround them as they left his office, the protection seals disintegrating and the room falling dormant behind him. If anyone tried to enter, they would find only blank documents and useless technology.

Himawari was thankfully oblivious to the various looks they received on their walk. She didn't notice the sympathy or fear. Well, no. He examined her closer. She was twitchier than normal and was perhaps a bit more boisterous. She noticed the changed atmosphere; she just didn't connect it to any specific reason. He would have to look into getting her a trainer for this new ability. He shook his head. Seeing emotions – only in his family.

She continued to describe her dream, how they were all together on a picnic when bad ninja attacked, but mommy and daddy fought them off because they were just that awesome. Naruto nodded at all the right moments, and ohh-ed and ahh-ed when appropriate, but was only able to listen with half an ear. His senses were on high alert, every movement processed and analyzed for suspicious activity. Naruto was almost surprised Himawari hadn't complained at the tightness with which he held her. He supposed that, on some level, she realized he needed it.

A sharp spike of chakra alerted him to the presence of another ANBU. The woman, one of Ino's minions if the badge on her arm was anything to go by, appeared over his shoulder. Himawari stopped her storytelling to gaze inquisitively at the new arrival. Her mask, a tiger, would have frightened any other child, but Himawari merely grinned and waved her panda's arm at her. The ANBU waved back and leaned in to Naruto's ear.

"Hokage-sama, Yamanaka-taicho sent me to inform you that her report is ready."

Naruto nodded and waved his hand in dismissal. Tora bowed, flickering away in the same manner she'd arrived. He checked the sun. Noon.

Right on time, Ino.

"Daddy?"

"Hmm?" Himawari's face conveyed only curiosity; one Naruto found himself mirroring.

"Who was that?"

"Who? Oh," he flittered his gaze to the empty space over his shoulder and then back. "That was just a friend of daddy's. Now come on," he said, hoisting her up further on his hip. "Let's go get that ramen!"

Worked like a charm. She immediately brightened and continued chattering, the entire encounter completely forgotten. For his part, Naruto was content to listen as she blathered on about the nonsensical nature of her dream and how much fun she and mommy had had yesterday.

He smiled and nodded and easily molded his chakra into a familiar shape before releasing it. There was a quiet pop off to his left, drowned out by the chattering of civilians and unnoticed by everyone. The sign for Ichiraku's hung before them and Himawari let out a cheer. She squirmed in his arms, desperate to be put down so she could run, but Naruto was reluctant. He shook himself of the thought. She would still be in his line of sight.

"Teuchi-jii, Teuchi-jii," she chanted, running for the stall. Villagers turned from their business to watch, their amusement swiftly shifting to sympathy the moment they noticed Naruto. They bowed as he passed and quickly returned to their work, as if trying not to show their pity.

Naruto took it all in stride. Let them pity him. It was better than fear. He had learned to appreciate it for the support it was.

"Daddy! Hurry up!" Himawari's cry echoed through the market. She was already situated on a stool, Ayame before her and poised with a pen.

Naruto snickered. "Coming!"

He picked up the pace to a light jog and held back a grin as the little girl bounced in her seat. They made quite a spectacle as they ordered their ramen. So much so, that no one paid any attention as another blond Hokage made his way out of the alley and into a small, nondescript house across the street. Winter flowers bloomed on the front steps and the man was welcomed in with a smile.

Alright, Ino. Let's see what you've got for me.

Greying-brown hair sat limp and greasy on her head. Knots tangled through the strands and her blue eyes were crazed and cloudy. Blood analysis placed her in her mid-forties-early-fifties, though she looked far older. Her bones were frail, her body waif-like, and, if not for her attitude, none of the interrogators would have picked her for a kidnapper if given the choice. Many on Ino's team left her cell with bite marks, scratches in need of stitches, and, in one notable case, a missing eye. That the eye was fake to begin with was negligible. She was vicious and bloodthirsty and was the only one Ino felt was defiant enough to believe in escape.

A single-file line of prisoners stood in the central hall of Interrogation Block C. The man from cell C-135 was shaking as his hands and feet were chained and attached to his compatriots. Prisoner 22769 sneered at him. Weakling, she thought. He probably squealed like a pig.

She didn't flinch as the chains yanked at her wrists and ankles. Pain meant nothing to her. Her master had told her pain was just another obstacle she had yet to overcome. More and more prisoners were added to the line until all seven were linked together. It was degrading, how they all hunched over themselves, as if they didn't care that they were once proud shinobi reduced to nothing but quivering rats. She was ashamed to know them.

"Hey!" The shouting of one of the guards brought her attention to the prisoner behind her, where the woman had been leaning too far over. The guard smacked her across the face and 22769 heard a growl in the back of the other prisoner's throat. The part of her that could still feel something other than anger glimmered with pride. Perhaps not all of her comrades were cowards.

"You! Face forward!" It took a moment and a pull on her chains for her to realize the guard was talking to her. She sneered at him but didn't speak. She hadn't spoken a word in days.

The guards suddenly moved, three to the front, three to the back and three on either side. "All clear!" The demonic blonde said from the front. 22769 hated her. She hated her more than the plump purple-haired one and the scar-faced one. "Move out!'

The line began to move, each prisoner shuffling along the polished floor as quickly as their chains would allow. For almost a half an hour they walked through the long tunnels; the only sounds to be heard were the rattling of chains and the occasional cry of a guard. Lighting was dim and worked in diminishing any sense of defiance. 22769 seethed with every step. If she could only feel her chakra, she would have escaped days ago. They wouldn't have been able to hold her.

The prisoner behind her stumbled. She felt a slight pull on her bindings as the other woman leaned into her to catch her fall. The younger girl's hand grabbed at her back and 22769 felt an almost imperceptible burning sensation over the spot. She longed to scratch it, but the chains prevented it. Even without them, she wasn't sure she could have reached.

"Don't move." 22769 stiffened. The woman behind her leaned closer, as far as she could without looking suspicious. "You should be able to feel your chakra returning in a minute."

Wha–?

There! She felt it; a small tingle throughout her body, as if she'd stepped into a hot springs after days in the snow. Her chakra! She'd almost forgotten what it felt like.

"Calm down," her savior hissed. "You don't want to draw their attention." Her eyes flickered back and forth towards the guards surrounding them, and 22769 forced herself to relax. It was difficult. This sudden brush of freedom was almost too sweet to deny.

"How?" The older woman croaked, her voice sore from days of disuse, but too euphoric at this turn of events to remain silent.

Her comrade smirked. "I'm a fūinjutsu expert. Must not have shown up in the blood work. They shouldn't have placed my suppressor seal where I could reach it."

22769 fought down her own grin. The fools! She only had the vaguest recollection of her savior. Plain faced with dull brown eyes, she could have easily blended into any background environment, but she wasn't unfamiliar. As far as 22769 knew, they'd only met once before this mission, but she remembered her skills: a doton user and an expert at genjutsu, a perfect blend for her own abilities. She hadn’t known about the fūinjutsu, but it didn’t matter. Hope blossomed in her chest.

She could get out. She could escape. Perhaps, if she was careful, she could even complete the mission. Her master would be so pleased.

"What did you have in mind?" She whispered out of the corner of her mouth. For the other woman – Sugao, if memory served her correctly – to go through such effort, she must have some plan.

"It will take a while for your chakra to return," Sugao replied. "Mine has had time to build back up. I'm going to cause a diversion. While the guards are distracted, we'll unlock the bindings and make a run for it."

It was a bit simpler than she expected, but the best plans usually were. Complex strategies were often hard to follow and open to too many complications. She didn't ask how they were going to get the keys. 22769 nodded.

"Get ready." She tensed. The faint tingle of her chakra allowed her to feel as Sugao set a subtle genjutsu around the room. It wouldn't work for long. Despite the guards’ obvious incompetence, the genjutsu was weak. Clearly Sugao's chakra had yet to return to normal, but, if all went well, it might just be enough.

"Now," Sugao hissed, pushing a ring with three keys into her hands. Of course! She had leaned into the guard earlier! 22769 could taste freedom.

She quickly jimmied one of the keys into the lock and twisted, repeating again at the ankles. The shackles fell off with a loud crack! Grinning and giving a great sigh of relief, she rubbed at the raw skin. It felt so light.

"Don't dawdle! Hurry!" Sugao pulled at her arm, gasping and stumbling as their injuries made themselves known. Pain coursed through 22769's body, but she pushed through. She was so close. She could get out – could complete the mission!

"Kai!" Oh no…

"Stop!"

The two kunoichi didn't risk peering behind them. They could hear chaos erupt as the other prisoners tried to escape, but they were not so fortunate. Lacking the ability to touch their chakra and weak from days of torture, the others stood no chance.

"Doton: Dochū Senkō!"

The ground around them turned to liquid. Immediately, their feet stuck to the muck and prevented them from making any quick movements. No, no, no, no, no, she thought. I'm so close. But within seconds, the blonde bitch was on them. Her fingers formed the shape of a rectangle and then…

"Shinranshin no Jutsu!"

She couldn't feel her body. No, that wasn't right. She could feel everything, but it was muted, like she was half-asleep. Involuntarily, her feet began to move away from the exit and over towards her jailor. One, two, three steps. Her arms reached out, ready and waiting for the clasp of shackles, when a flash of grey entered her peripheral and connected.

"Arg!" The blonde yelled as Sugao's shin made contact with her face. She spun around, falling into a ready stance as the Yamanaka slowly rose and wiped the blood from her nose.

"Oh, feisty," the demon snickered, as if she hadn't even felt the kick.

Sugao didn't back down. She continued to hold her ground even as the plump violette and the scarred man joined their torturer. They were at a standstill. Three fresh jounin and two injured prisoners.

"Katon: Endan!" Sugao shouted suddenly, letting loose a stream of flames. Though small, the fire was amplified by the shape of the tunnel.

"Doton: Doryūheki!" The scarred man shouted, covering his group with a wall of earth.

The two women didn’t waste any time. They immediately spun around and fled. Behind them, they heard the sound of the jutsu coming down and pushed on. If they wanted to have any chance of escape, they would need to put as much distance between them and their captors as possible.

They came upon a fork in the tunnel.

“Left, left, left,” Sugao ushered, pulling further on her arm. She winced as it irritated her already exacerbated injuries, but didn’t argue despite her confusion.

As if sensing her question, Sugao muttered, “Most people pick right when they come to a fork. With three of them, they’re bound to split up; two to the right, and one to the left. Which means we’ll have the advantage.”

22769 smirked. Of all those cowards, she was glad she’d gotten the only one with any sort of sense. Sugao would have to go, of course – sharing the glory of a successful mission wasn’t nearly as beneficial as being the only survivor – but she wouldn’t snub her nose at having someone to watch her back while she gathered strength.  

“Suiton: Hōmatsu Rappa!”

The cry came from behind and a sea of foamy bubbles sped towards them. There was nowhere to go except forward and the bubbles soon coated the floor. Both kunoichi found themselves slipping and sliding as they lost friction and soon they were sent spiraling to the floor. Landing in a heap, they tried to twist their bodies back into a standing position, but it was of no use.

Ino appeared before them, grinning widely, a giant crustacean at her side. Her hair had fallen from its ponytail to whip freely down her back and a bruise was blossoming at her nose. It didn’t seem to bother her.

“Good shot, Kaniko,” she congratulated while reaching down to pat the large summon on her back.

The summon snapped her pincers, proud. “My pleasure, Ino-sama.”

“Now, just where do you two think you’re going?” She asked, her obvious enjoyment sending a shiver of rage down 22769’s back.

Sugao clasped her elbow. “Magen: Nijū Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu,” she whispered, and the two watched as Ino’s and Kaniko’s eyes glazed over with genjutsu. “That won’t hold them for long,” the younger woman said. “I don’t have the chakra, but it might take her some time to realize I layered it.”

The older woman nodded and the two slowly made their way to the end of the stretch of foam. As soon as their feet were free of the substance, they ran. Up a flight of stairs and down two more corridors, they could soon feel their lungs begin to ache from the stress. Three days of torture and little sustenance had taken its toll.

“Through here.” Sugao pulled open a door and yanked her through, almost sending her sprawling. She caught herself on the wall, but couldn’t stifle a groan when she saw what lay before them.

Not another hall, she thought, absolutely sick of them. She’d hoped for some place they could take refuge, but it seemed it was not to be. Fucking Konoha. She wished she could burn the whole village to the ground.

“Why are you stopping? We’ve got to keep running,” Sugao urged, and 22769 couldn’t help muttering a few choice expletives at her under her breath. A fingernail, sharper than her best kunai, appeared at her neck. 22769 stilled. She met Sugao’s glare warily. “Remember who got you out. You’d still be down in that shithole if it wasn’t for me, so I’d be a little more grateful if I were you.”

The older woman snarled. She jerked her head away from the appendage and glowered at her companion. Sugao didn’t flinch. She only sniggered, amused, and moved forward. 22769 followed, her desire for freedom overriding her distaste.

They ran down the rest of the corridor and up one more flight of stairs before a sudden hiss stopped them cold.

“Well, well, well, Anko-sama will be pleased. A pair of escapees ripe for the taking. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

It was a snake, large and purple with protruding fangs and a wicked gleam in his eyes. He swayed towards them, soaking up their fear like a sponge. He could literally taste it on his tongue.

“Let’s see how long you last, little prisoners.”

Suddenly, he was on them, lunging out with terrifying speed. His fangs sank into Sugao’s arm and she let out a piercing scream, tumbling to the ground in an agonized heap.

22769 spun around to avoid the same fate. Her hands lashed out to grab hold of the snake’s fangs. He hissed and whipped out with his mouth in an attempt to bite her. She strained against the might of the snake, forcing what little chakra she could feel to her feet to keep herself steady. The harsh stone wall scratched at her back, but she ignored the sting.

“Sen’eijashu!” The cry came out of nowhere, and 22769 threw herself to the floor. She just managed to evade being hit by the snakes erupting from the newcomer’s sleeve.

It was the plump purple-haired one, grinning maniacally at them from the end of the hall. She looked as if she couldn’t have thought up a better way to spend her day and, considering her torture methods, 22769 wasn’t surprised. The woman was an absolute sadist.  

“Aww, you dodged,” she pouted, not sounding at all upset. “Oh well, more fun for me.”

Anko’s high-heels carved into her chest and she let out a loud scream as the kick sent her sprawling. There was no time to recover as the giant snake from earlier curled himself around her leg and yanked.

She was thrown like a ragdoll into the wall and slid to the floor with a groan. Desperately, she reached for her chakra, but it was no use. Using any more would be a death sentence. Anko and her snakes stalked forward and her heart plummeted. If she got caught now, she’d never get the chance to complete the mission.

“Fūinjutsu: Zenshinfuzui!” Sugao appeared at her side, her palm splayed as she slapped Anko with a seal.

Anko froze, her entire body completely paralyzed. Sugao used her opponent’s surprise to land a wild haymaker on the giant snake, and then swept forward with a spinning kick at the others. They landed further down the hall from the girls, who then used the opportunity to push away from the wall and run back down the corridor. They didn’t get halfway there before another attack came from behind.

“Suiton: Suiben!” A water whip wrapped around Sugao’s wrist and wrenched her aside, causing her to tumble to the floor. She thrashed and struggled against the hold, but Ino was stronger, sending out another one to grasp hold of the other wrist. Her summon clamped down hard on the woman’s leg with her giant pincers and Sugao screamed. She fell silent a second later as one of Anko’s snakes reappeared and wrapped itself around her head.

The paralysis seal must have worn off because Anko materialized not a moment later, wild with fury. She glowed upon seeing the spectacle and spun a kunai tauntingly across her fingers.

22769 didn’t stop to help her comrade. She spun around at a run, moving as fast as her damaged legs would allow. Behind her, she heard a low squelching sound and it urged her further.

"Anko, Kaniko, take care of this one," were the last words she heard before the sound of footsteps drew closer.

She pushed herself onwards, through the dimly lit and damp concrete halls of the tunnel, and up three flights of stairs to another corridor. Her legs ached with each movement and she didn't have the chakra capacity yet to amplify them. Tunnel after tunnel, incline after incline, she ran forward.

Come on, come on. She pushed her body further. She just had to let her chakra build up a bit more; then she could fight. Already she could feel her body adjusting, her chakra refilling. It hurt, but nothing more than she could handle.

"Doton: Doryūkatsu!" The earth opened up into a chasm before her.

She pulled up short, her feet just teetering on the edge of open earth. The gorge was large and there was no way to make the jump in her condition. Her blonde pursuer leapt forward and she spun out of the way. For a moment, she thought the interrogator had fallen but it was not to be. The Yamanaka sat crouched on a protruding beam of earth that hadn't been there before. She felt adrenaline kick in as the blonde made another hand sign. Frantically, 22769 looked around for another exit and her eyes highlighted upon a tiny crack in the wall.

She managed to shimmy her way into the fissure just as a cry of, "Doton Kekkai: Dorō Dōmu!" pierced through the tunnel. A dome of earth appeared behind her, but it was of no consequence. She'd already escaped.

The gap she found herself in was tiny and barely large enough for her to walk through sideways. Despite this, she allowed herself a brief consolation. Her chaser would have just as hard of a time getting to her as she had moving forward.

A light appeared in front of her eyes and she felt her heart begin to race. She slithered closer and closer, scratches appearing on her face as the cold concrete scraped against her. Small, pebbled-sized pieces broke off and entered her eyes, causing her to wince and blink repeatedly.

Closer, closer, she whispered in her mind like a mantra. She was so close.

Air! Sweet, clean air!

She burst from the crack in the wall with a gasp, hacking and coughing and doubling over as the pain in her ribs took hold. Falling against the wall, she collapsed to the floor in a heap and leaned her head against the stone. For a few minutes, she just sat there, eyes closed, and senses on high alert. She couldn't sense anybody coming, but then she wasn't at a hundred percent.

She only allowed herself those few moments to relax before she was immediately back on her feet. She took a cursory glance at her surroundings. It was a large room consisting of wooden floors and a sparse collection of furniture. A few windows were spread out against the wall and it was there she went to first.

The first things she saw were trees. Considering this was Konoha that wasn't surprising, but the way they surrounded the building led her to believe she was outside the gates – maybe in some portion of the forest. A watchtower, perhaps? She didn't have time to find out. No doubt the village was on lockdown by now. Everyone would be out searching for her and she was at a considerable disadvantage. No weapons, no energy, and a weak chakra supply. If she had any chance of completing the mission she would have to lay low and hide out in the forest.

A forceful push and the window dislodged, glass shattering on impact. She tested her capacity. It wasn't much, but it was building and she should have enough to make it to the ground. She took a deep breath and placed her foot upon the sill. It stuck.

She sagged in relief. At least she had enough chakra to run down a building. Gripping the frame in her hands, she allowed her body to fall, her feet slamming against the oak coating the outside of the tower. It was euphoric. For the first time in days, she smelled the sweet scent of clean air and reveled in the feeling of wind on her face.

Briefly, she wondered if Sugao had managed to escape, but found it unlikely. The force with which the snake held her probably crushed her skull. It was no true loss, though it occurred sooner than she would have liked. She had yet to build back her strength.

Her feet hit the ground with a harder than normal thump and she grasped the grass in her hand desperately, running it through her fingers simply because she could. A river appeared to run under the tower and she figured it would be in her best interest to stay near it. Not too close, of course – she would be too easily followed – but close enough that she could be assured of water.

Once more, she spread her senses out as far as she could. No one. She had time, at the very least. With one last check on her chakra, she transferred it to her legs and pushed off into the trees. It made her slightly lightheaded but she persevered, refusing to give up now that she'd been given this second chance.

Orochimaru-sama would surely reward her.

"I gotta admit, Ino, that worked much better than I thought it would."

Ino tilted her head as she watched the prisoner run through the trees from her spot in the basement of Tower Forty-Four. A finger twirled lazily around her ponytail and she didn't even try to hide how ridiculously pleased she was with herself. "Well, I can't take all the credit. Moegi was perfect."

"Just Moegi?"

She blew aside a bang and waved her hand dismissively. "You were good too, I suppose. Not that you had to do much except shiver and shuffle a bit. Moegi was much more impressive."

"I'll have you know it was harder than it looked," Naruto sniffed indignantly. "But you're right. Moegi really gave it her all. I’m impressed."

"She gives a mean kick, I’ll give her that. Broke my nose and everything."

"It looks fine to me.”

"Well, I am a healer," Ino reminded, blithely. "Besides, I got her right back. We might have to have an actual spar one of these days."

"Ha! Good luck," Naruto teased. "Moegi plays dirty."

"Even better," Ino replied, showing all her teeth. A flash of movement pulled her attention back to the screen and her grin widened to the point Naruto was afraid it would split right across her face. Waltzing forward, she pressed a small button on the command board and leaned in. "Nara, Sarutobi, she's heading your way."

There was a click and a small amount of static on the other end before another voice filtered through.

"Confirmed. We're in pursuit."

"Wonderful. Yamanaka out." The connection ended and Naruto raised his eyebrow.

Ino furrowed her brow. "What?"

"You put those two together? Really?"

She shrugged defensively. "They volunteered."

"Right."

"So what do ya think, Nara? Wanna have a little fun?"

The woman snorted. "Oh please. It's only fun when there's a challenge." She twirled a spool of wire in her palm. "But I have always been partial to a good game of cat and mouse."

Her companion snickered. "Then what are we waiting for? I've got a new technique I've just been dying to test out."

"Of course you do," she scoffed. "Just try to keep up, kid." She leapt from the high branch and began to run, bounding from tree to tree with perhaps a little more ferocity than was necessary.

Konohamaru scowled. "Damn hag." He took off after her, pumping chakra to his limbs to keep up.

They followed their target deeper into the forest, anticipation and exhilaration pumping through their veins until they came upon a very conveniently placed clearing. Their grins stretched until they resembled those of a shark, and kunai twirled around their fingers.

Temari's green eyes gleamed in the sunlight. "Shall we?"

"After you."

She let her kunai fly, Konohamaru's not far behind. The weapons landed in the trees and dirt and bushes, and startled the prisoner into leaping to the center of the clearing. She teetered as dizziness struck her, but managed to fall into an imperfect defensive stance. Frantically, the prisoner searched the clearing for her assailants but found nothing. Her body tensed in preparation for another attack.

Suddenly, the kunai flew up into the air, sunlight shining off their sharp edges, and sped back to their owners on invisible strings. Her eyes followed them to the canopy where her pursuers materialized out of the shadows. She backed up involuntarily. They looked like demons emerging from hell.

"Hiya," Temari said, slamming the butt of her fan down onto the branch with a resounding thud.

"'Sup?" Konohamaru jutted his chin and twirled his staff.

Prisoner 22769 summoned as much chakra as she could into her mouth and fired.