Daro looked around the canyon with somewhat of fear in his eyes. All around him shinobi were fighting. One had fallen at his feet not along ago, dead. This wasn’t exactly how he had pictured the coming fight. Serious yes. But not this. Not this chaos.
He dodged a knife that was thrown in his direction and turned to his attacker. He had no idea who the shinobi was. He didn’t know any of them. Most had died long before he had been born and he hadn’t encountered many missing nin either. The shinobi he had fought on previous missions were now his allies. And his friends weren’t here. They were fighting in the same war, but he had no idea if they were still alive. He was on his own now.
His thoughts drifted towards his sensei, trying to recall all the things she had taught him. His feelings for her had long since changed from infatuation to deep respect. She had told him to always learn as much as possible about your opponents, but he hadn’t had much time for a read through here.
Daro shrugged his shoulder. It felt much better since that training accident. At least he had learned something from that. He could fight left-handed now.
Taryn had always said he relied on his ninjutsu too much, so he had worked on his weaponry skills. And also… this was the perfect time to use his new jutsu. He had worked on it for a long time and it wasn’t perfect yet, but it was strong. He had wanted to ask Taryn to help him perfect it. He had been waiting to show her. Now it seemed he would have to figure it out on his own.
He made a few signs and focused his chakra to his feet. “Earth Style, Rock Stampede!” He shifted his right foot and stamped the ground. The earth rumbled and piled up until it formed a giant ox that charged forward, trampling any opponent it found on its path.
Daro panted as he broke off the jutsu. It took a lot of energy and he couldn’t perform it multiple times. He had taken down five enemies though.
“You alright kid?” one of his allies asked.
Daro nodded as he tried to catch his breath.
“Don’t overexert yourself,” the shinobi told him, “that was an impressive jutsu, but you should only use that kind of jutsu as a last resort. It took up a lot of stamina and chakra, right?”
Daro nodded. He felt a bit embarrassed that he hadn’t thought about that before. He would be of no use if he was drained of all his energy. Who knew how long this war was going to last?
***
“So Madara has unchained a war,” Suigetsu said, “I knew he had a double agenda. Still… what does that have to do with us?”
“You were Sasuke’s teammates, isn’t that right?” Taryn said, “Madara is using him and he’ll eventually kill him. He must be stopped.”
Suigetsu snorted. “You don’t get it, do you? Why should I care about Sasuke? He left us here to rot. He made it very clear that we don’t mean anything to him. Let him be used as a pawn. It has nothing to do with me.”
Taryn looked at Juugo who had a thoughtful expression. “It’s not just about Sasuke,” she said, “Madara is insane. He’ll destroy the world with is actions. No one can wield the power of the ten tailed beast.” She sighed. “Juugo, he’ll bring Kimimaro’s body back. I know what he meant to you. Do you really want him to become a walking corpse, bound by someone else’s will?”
Juugo didn’t answer her.
“Come on Juugo,” Suigetsu said, “We can take her down. Maybe then she’ll stop yapping.”
“What if I offer you something in return?” Taryn said, “something you cant resist?”
“There’s nothing you can give me that I want,” Suigetsu spat disgusted.
“No?” Taryn asked, “how about seven things?”
Slowly Suigetsu turned his head in her direction. “Seven…”
“That’s right,” Taryn nodded, “the seven swords of Mist. Yours for the taking. The Seven have been resurrected by Kabuto. That means their swords have been summoned too. Here’s your opportunity to get a hold of them all at once. What do you say?”
Suigetsu smirked. “I’m saying you have my attention now.”
***
Back at Headquarters, the generals were quietly conversing with each other. The reports that came back from the field weren’t very promising. Word had just arrived about an army of White Zetsu, marching their way. The problem was not only the numbers, but also that these Zetsu could shape shift. They could be anyone. And that wasn’t even the worst of their problems.
“Akatsuki, the Seven Swordsmen of Mist, former Kages and some of the strongest shinobi in our history… who else have they brought back?!” the Raikage growled as he glared round the table.
“That’s not the only thing,” Shikaku said, “they can bring back whatever casualties we have on our side too. Any loses we suffer will only strengthen their troops.”
“We need to seal the bodies,” another shinobi said, “that way we can be certain our own victims won’t be used against us.”
The Raikage nodded. “Inform the troops.”
***
Hiro gasped as he fended off one of his attackers. They all looked the same and from Taryn’s description, he and Yura had figured out this must be Zetsu. There were at least fifty of them of not more. And the problem was that his water based jutsu wouldn’t do much to defeat them.
Yura’s earth based jutsu wasn’t very helpful either.
Hiro jumped aside again and took out a handful of shuriken. He threw them at one of the Zetsu’s clones, but he dodged them.
Zetsu chuckled. “It’s gonna take more than that to defeat me, kid.”
Vines erupted from the ground and lifted Hiro from the ground. The boy dangled upside down and saw all of his weapons slip from his pouch. He gasped and managed to get a grip on one of his kunai daggers. He clutched it tightly and drew a drop of blood from his hand. Quickly he waved a few signs and pointed his hand towards the ground. “Kera!” he shouted, “help me!”
“What?!” he heard Zetsu gasp.
Not long after there as a high screech and Hiro crashed to the ground. He gritted his teeth and held his arm. He had landed on it and it hurt like hell. He quickly looked around for Yura. The shinobi was trying to fend off three Zetsu at once.
Hiro quickly gathered his weapons, but paused when his eyes landed on some explosion tags. He smirked when an idea came to his mind. He gathered the tags and tied them to some kunai daggers. He focused a bit of chakra behind it and threw them at a group of Zetsu. He flattened himself against the ground as they went off.
How many more would they have to defeat?
Above his head, Kera and her friends were pecking and scratching at the vines that were trying to catch them. Hiro gasped when he saw Leon go down, one of the smaller hawks.
Vines locked around the small bird, plucking it from the sky.
Hiro let out an angry roar and charged at Zetsu. He felt charged with energy and fury and was focused on his opponent that held Leon captive.
Determined to save the little hawk, he forgot to watch the others and he was slammed backwards by a vine from another Zetsu.
He landed hard with his back into a tree and slid to the ground, gasping for breath.
Yura performed a jutsu that made the earth open up, trying to make it swallow some of the opponents.
Zetsu laughed evilly. “Trying to bury me in the earth? You fool. I am the earth.”
Hiro turned his head away and tried to get to his feet again, but was pinned to a tree with a few other vines. He screamed when they pierced his shoulder and leg.
He tried to get a hold of one of his daggers, but couldn’t reach them. When he saw a vine come straight at him he closed his eyes. This was it then. At least he had fought till the end.
A warm breeze brushed past his face and a moment later he fell to the ground.
Shocked that he was still alive, he opened his eyes and saw the last flames of a fireball jutsu. He blinked at it confused.
“Hiro! Get up!” he heard Taryn yell.
Quickly he did as he was told. His one knee buckled and he bit his lip in pain. He couldn’t give in now. He had to live.
The sound of snapping bones made him look up. Leon had finally lost the fight.
“No!” Hiro growled furiously and he ran at Zetsu again. He formed some seals and released a water jutsu. It came out as small, sharp blades of water that cut straight through Zetsu’s vines.
Taryn stared at it amazed. Hiro’s blades seemed to be just as sharp as her wind blades. She shook her head and turned to wipe out the remaining Zetsu. She sent fireball jutsu after fireball jutsu until there weren’t any left.
She searched the area with Byakugan, but they seemed to be safe for now.
She glanced back at the building she had come out of. She had done everything possible to convince them. It was up to them now.
As for her team, they had to get out of here.
She looked over at Yura who looked exhausted but other wise seemed fine.
Hiro was a different matter. The boy was inured on both shoulders and one of his legs. He had bruises and scratches all over. He sat kneeled in front of a small hawk, his hands over his eyes. The heaving of his shoulders gave away his crying.
“Ah,” she sighed. She didn’t want to disturb him, but they couldn’t stay here. There was no time for grief.
She walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. He flinched and shied away from it.
“We need to go,” Taryn said quietly.
Hiro looked up at her with tear struck eyes. All around the clearing, the other hawks sat quietly, watching them.
Kera sat on a branch not far above their heads. “Go with her, Hiro,” the large hawk spoke, “there is no time to linger.”
“But it’s my fault,” the boy whispered, “he’s dead because of me.”
“No,” Kera spoke firmly, “Leon was a ninja hawk. He died doing his job. Don’t dishonor his sacrifice.”
Hiro nodded and wiped the tears from his eyes.. “I’m ready,” he said hoarsely.
“Can you walk?” Taryn asked concerned.
He nodded at her. “Yeah.”
They gathered Yura and made their way back to camp.
It was close to sunset. Taryn looked at the sky warily. They would have to spend the night here.
Hiro was inured. She was tired. And she had no doubt Yura could do with some rest as well. “We’ll make camp here,” she said.
“I’m fine,” Hiro said, “I can still go.” But his face was pale from the pain.
“Hiro…”
“I won’t slow you down, I promise.”
“Listen kid,” Yura cut in, “it’s getting dark. We just came out of a fight and you’re injured. We need to rest. The worst is yet to come and you’ll need your strength.”
Hiro sighed and sunk to the ground with a pained expression.
“Okay,” Taryn said while kneeling next to him, “let me have a look at those injures.” She turned to Yura. “Why don’t you start a fire?”
“Doesn’t that tell the enemy where we are?” Hiro questioned.
Taryn sighed. “They already know where we are. They knew where we came from and the they can figure out we’re returning to the base. They can find us at every given moment and pinpoint our location. If we’re gonna have to stay the night, then I rather see them coming.”
Yura nodded and gathered some firewood.
Taryn carefully helped Hiro out of his shirt and examined his shoulder. “It’s dislocated,” she said, “this is gonna hurt.” She took his arm. “It’s better if you don’t look,” she said.
Hiro closed his eyes and braced himself. He screamed when Taryn pulled his arm.
“Sorry,“ Taryn said, “it’s back in place, but I’m no medic. You should have it looked after when we’re back.”
Hiro gave a ghostly nod. His face was drained from all cooler.
Taryn sighed. “Other shoulder,” she said.
Hiro bit his lip as his sensei traced the hole caused by the vines. The boy flinches.
“It’s not that bad,” Taryn told him, “I’ll clean and bandage it and then you’re going to get some rest.”
Hiro sighed and nodded weakly. He felt exhausted. He stared into the fire that Yura had gotten stated. Taryn handed him some food.
“You think of things like that in a war?” Yura questioned.
“I’m used to traveling,” Taryn answered him, “war or not.”
Hiro listened to their conversation and ate his food slowly. He was still hurting, but the food replenished some of his energy. His eyes started closing and he drifted into a slumber, the voices of his teammates becoming more hushed by the second.
***
Taryn glanced at Hiro sadly and checked if he was comfortable enough. She’d like to place him closer to the fire, but was afraid of waking him. He needed his rest.
She sighed and gave a faint smile.
Yura eyed it curiously and then grinned amused. “You’re like a mother hen,” he chuckled.
Taryn glared at him. He raised his hands in defense. “I didn’t mean anything by it. But he’s your student.”
“So I care about my students. What’s it to you?”
“Nothing. You’re just closer with your students than any sensei I’ve ever met.” He leaned back against a tree. “But I have to admit, they are good fighters. Very skilled at their age. Why haven’t you signed them up for the Chuunin exams yet?”
Taryn added another twig to the fire. “Being a Chuunin is about more than good fighting skills,” she said, “when you lead a team, you have to make snap decisions. You hold other people’s lives in your hands. You can’t be impulsive or depend on others too much. While other nations vie for attention by sending young contestants, I’m more concerned by keeping mine alive. They weren’t ready.”
“But they are now,” Yura said.
“Yeah,” Taryn sighed, “let’s hope that’s enough.”
***
“What news form the front?” Tsunade asked when she entered the tent. She had long since recovered from Pain’s attack on the village and was back at the Head Quarters.
“We have three hundred casualties on our side already,” a shinobi offered, “our enemy has also suffered losses. There have come in fifty new wounded shinobi.”
Tsunade nodded. “Are there enough medics available for the task?”
“We are managing.”
Tsunade turned to the Raikage. “How about Bee and Naruto?”
“They’ re still secure… we remain keeping Naruto in the dark about the war for now. We will do whatever it takes to keep him away from the battlefield.” He paused. “Tsunade, now that you are back, would you not take back your position as Hokage?”
“Kakashi is more than capable of handling the job,” Tsunade answered, “I see no reason to revoke the council’s decision. Let’s not make things confusing now.”
The Raikage gave a curt nod. “Very well then.”
“Now if you’ll excuse me,” Tsunade continued, “I’ll go to the infirmary to see if they need help.” She left the tent and crossed the campsite.
Wounded shinobi were everywhere and more kept coming in.
Tsunade sighed concerned and entered one of the infirmary tents.
Sakura was busy bandaging a shoulder. She only briefly looked up when Tsunade came in. The older woman waited patiently for the patient to leave and then turned to Sakura. “How are you holding up?”
Sakura wiped her forehead. “I’m fine, We work in four shifts, but the number of casualties keep increasing. I fear that soon we won’t have any time to rest.” There was a sad look in her eyes. “Do you… How long do you think this war is going to last, Tsunade-sama?”
“I don’t know. Until we have taken down Madara. And Kabuto…”
‘And Sasuke…’ Sakura silently added. She hung her head.
Tsunade placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Sakura,” she tried to comfort the girl, “focus on your task. That’s what’s most important now.”
“So I can send my patients back into war,” Sakura muttered.
“So you can save their lives,” Tsunade corrected.
Sakura sighed. “I know,” she said and rubbed her eyes. “I’m just afraid one of my friends will end up here.”
“That’s always a risk,” Tsunade told her, “regardless of this war. Shinobi get killed on simple missions too. But when they have a medic like you to patch tem up, they’ll have a bigger chance of survival and they may live to see old age.”
Sakura gave a tired smile and nodded. The tent opened again and two shinobi came in, carrying a third inside.
“Matsuri!” Sakura gasped.
The young girl was unconscious and severely injured. Cloth was primitively wrapped around her leg to stop the bleeding and on the girl’s head was a deep wound as well.
“Please hurry,” one of the shinobi carrying her called.
Both Sakura and Tsunade hurried to her side.
“Okay,” Tsunade said, “I need water and bandages…”
***
“Neji, don’t strain yourself like that,” Kiba told his friend, “You don’t have to do everything alone. Give your eyes some rest. Akamaru and I can take over for a while.”
“Your dog may be able to sniff out the enemy, but I can sense their chakra. I can’t rest. Hinata is busy on the other side. I’m needed here.”
“Neji, you’re no good to us when you collapse. Let Shino take over for a while. His beetles can sense chakra too.”
Neji sighed and gave a tired nod. As much as he would like to continue, his body needed rest. Kiba was right.
Kiba waved Shino over, who was busy a little down the field.
Not far away, Kuro had an opponent trapped in a genjutsu and attacked him with some shuriken.
“That kid is not bad,” Kiba noted, “he’s holding himself well.”
Neji nodded. “Yeah. I’ve noticed. And he picks up on the smallest details about the enemy. If he lives through this war, he’s going to make an excellent spy.” He turned his head to the sky. ‘The moon is almost full.’
“Do you think the enemy will retreat for the night?” Kiba asked.
Shino, who had reached them by now shook his head. “they are walking corpses,” he said, “they don’t need rest. And Kabuto can just resurrect new ones. It doesn’t matter much to him if they die, as long as they can decrease our numbers.” He turned to Neji. “take some rest. We’ll take over for a while.”
***
Taryn rubbed her eyes and suppressed a yawn. She had kept watch all night. Yura had gone to sleep a few hours ago. She should have woken Hiro of course, but he was still injured and needed his sleep more than she.
It was close to dawn. Time to go.
Taryn crawled to her feet and woke up the others. “Come on,” she said softly, “we need to get going.”
Hiro groaned as he sat up and yawned.
Taryn moved to Yura and nudged him with her foot. He turned over and stretched himself. “Is there food?” he asked.
“No,” Taryn growled, “get up. We’re leaving.”
He eyed her suspiciously. “Did you sleep at all last night?”
Hiro looked from Yura to Taryn. “You stood guard all night? You should have woken me up.”
“You were injured,” Taryn said.
“You too,” Hiro countered.
“I’ll be fine,” she told him, “now get moving. The sooner we reach the campsite the better. Don’t you want to know if there’s news in your family?”
Hiro sighed. He knew there was no arguing with her. He stood up and followed her and Yura further down the road. He glanced at his sensei concerned every now and then, but she just kept walking.
Yura eyed her too. In the short time he had come to know her, he had come to value her. Much to his surprise. He hadn’t planned on letting it happen and he certainly didn’t like her all that much, but he respected her nonetheless. She could do with less stubbornness though. “So,” he said, “what happened with Sasuke’s subordinates? Are they going to fight with us?”
“Perhaps,” Taryn answered.
Yura snorted. “What did you promise them anyway?”
“The Seven Swords of Mist,” she simply said.
Both Hiro and Yura stopped and stared at her wide-eyed.
“You did what?!” Yura shouted.
“Lower your voice,” Taryn said “or do you want to alert the enemy?”
“You promised that brat the Seven Swords of Mist? Have you lost your mind? Do you know what he can do when he has all of them?”
Taryn rolled her eyes. “Please,” she scoffed, “like he could ever gather them all. I made a deal. He could have the swords, but he has to obtain them himself. To do that, he has to defeat all of the Seven Swordsmen first. He’s more likely to get himself killed, but if he manages to take a few of them down, all the better for us.”
She continued walking. She wanted to reach the base as soon as possible. She had an ominous feeling of being watched.