Starting over

#66 Letting Them Die

Naruto POV

Letting Kurama's chakra subside back into my body I look d at Gaara, hearing far away explosions from the two ongoing battles. "Go and help the others with Kabuto, I'll make sure, that he is done for good.", I said to Gaara, who nodded and jumped away towards the ongoing battle between Baki, Temari and Kabuto. I went towards Sasuke's burned body and checked for any vital signs. I was amazed that I could still feel a pulse, seeing that state that his body was in. I quickly took out a small brush and some sealing ink and drew a chakra suppression seal on him, before tying him up and leaning him against one of the trees at the edge of the crater. I then quickly checked on the three fallen Anbu and found that two of them were still alive. I made a mental note to take them back to Konoha, when we had secured Tsunade, and jumped away in the same direction Gaara had gone. 

When I arrived at the battle site I saw Kabuto's crushed body lying on the ground a little away from the rest, who were taking care of Tsunade. I went towards them and saw that Tsunade was conscious and had activated her creation rebirth jutsu, accelerating her cell division and healing every injury she had. "Let's get you home.", I said, turning around and going back to the clearing where Sasuke and the two alive Anbu were waiting. I lifted Sasuke and slung him over my shoulder, while Temari supported Tsunade and Gaara and Baki took the two Anbu. 

I threw an explosive note into the sky, which was a signal for the other Anbu that we had Tsunade and that they should pull back if possible, before taking out a hiraishin kunai and motioning for everyone to come closer. Holding my hand out, everyone put his hand on mine and we disappeared in a bright yellow flash. 

We appeared in front of the Hokage’s office, startling Shizune, who sat at the assistant’s desk. When she saw Tsunade she immediately rushed to her and asked if she needed anything. Tsunade just nodded and went into her office. Gaara and Baki brought the two injured Anbu towards the hospital.

Jiraiya was sitting behind the desk and looked up from the paper he was reading, when the door opened. When he saw Tsunade he immediately went towards her and gave her a hug. Tsunade returned the hug briefly, before going back behind the desk. “Where are the Anbu that came with you guys.”, Tsunade asked, looking at my team. “We signaled them, that we had rescued you and then we teleported here. We had specific instructions to immediately withdraw when we had rescued you. Going after Orochimaru was only a secondary objective.”, I told the Hokage. Tsunade nodded, before looking at Sasuke, who still was slung over my shoulder. “Go and get me Ibiki, he will take a look into Sasuke’s mind to look what is going on with him.”, Tsunade said to Jiraiya. 

“Thank you for saving me. I want you to go back and look for the other Anbu. If they are still fighting the sannin, then help them to get out of there.”, Tsunade ordered. I wanted to say something, that we only had the mission to rescue her, but I saw the look in her eyes and decided to just do her the favour. I only nodded and took Temari’s hand, dragging her out of the office. 

Baki and Gaara were just coming down the road as we came out of the Hokage tower. “Let’s go and get the other Anbu.”, I said, holding out my hand. Baki and Gaara looked at me funny, but Temari just shook her head and placed her hand on mine. The two hesitated, but then placed their hands on mine. I teleported us in front of the gates and we took of in the direction of the battle site. 

As we arrived there, we were greeted by a sight of horror. The whole forest was ablaze. Baki reacted first, throwing a big water jutsu at the fire. When the smoke had cleared we went through the burnt trees and found two burnt bodies, Ushi and Tora’s masks still laid next to their corpses. We quickly searched the vicinity for the other three Anbu. When we were searching the outer edge of the burnt area three shadows flew out of the ground. They immediately went into an aggressive stance, before they recognized us and lowered their weapons. 

Kakashi was badly burned and had dried blood running down his left eye, which indicated that he had used some mangekyou sharingan ability. 

Neko was missing a foot and had cuts everywhere on her body. Her mask was cut across her cheek. 

Yamato was the least hurt. He was only limping slightly while supporting his two teammates. 

Temari went to Neko and tried healing him to the best of her ability, while Baki went to Kakashi and Gaara and I looked over Yamato’s leg to see if it was broken. Luckily for him it was not broken. We teleported back to Konoha and Baki brought Neko and Kakashi to the hospital. We went back into the Hokage’s office, where Yamato gave Tsunade his report. 

The blonde medic then told us that we won't be needed anymore. She told us that we should Rasa tell her thanks, before dismissing us.