The streets of Konoha were noisy with chatter and as crowded as usual observed Kakashi as he meandered through the throng. But the crowds were subdued and the noise a mere byproduct of hundreds of civilians pressed together. The happy thrum that filled the streets during peacetime was missing. It was a shinobi's job to protect the village and make it safe, but at the moment, with the reigning Hokage and her heir called away for an emergency Kage Summit, even the most oblivious civilian felt unease. Kakashi found the situation distressing.
"You don't have to walk me home, Kakashi-san," said Karin cutting into his train of thought.
Kakashi smiled down at her though the expression was mostly hidden by his mask. "It's part of my job to insure your continued safety in the Village, Karin-san. I'm merely fulfilling my duties by acting as an escort."
Karin rolled her eyes at him. "I meant that it doesn't have to be you. Aren't you in charge of Konoha while Hokage-sama and Naruto are away? Don't you have something more important to be doing?"
"Caring for the safety of the villagers under my protection is very important," said Kakashi earnestly.
"Yeah, but you're Rokudaime Hokage," said Karin. "You can delegate. You're supposed to delegate."
Kakashi blinked in surprise. "Who told you that I was the Sixth?"
"My academy history text," said Karin flatly. "Why isn't your head up on that monument?"
"It'll go up after Tsunade-sama retires permanently," said Kakashi. "No need to remind anyone that I have the clearance to sign off on the really important paperwork."
Karin huffed. "So are you escorting me to dodge paperwork?"
Kakashi opened his mouth to deny any such action on his part.
"Or are you hoping for the chance to see Yuzu?" she continued.
Kakashi choked on his words. He gave no outside indicator of distress, but Karin nodded to herself as though he had.
"That's what I thought," she smirked. It was really an unbecoming look for her, thought Kakashi. "Yuzu hasn't been out of the apartment much since Ichi-nii and the others left."
The Hokage had taken the Ino-Shika-Cho powerhouse, Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Ichigo's genin team as her escort to the summit. The rest of the jounin were on alert with instructions to prepare themselves for a possible raid. As a result, the mission desk was only assigning the most essential missions and all teams had been ordered to scale down their training to conserve resources until they received a message from the Summit or until the Abu-Hyu-Inu team returned with actionable intelligence. Yuzu and Karin should have more free time not less.
Not that Kakashi had any particular reason to care about the schedule of either of the young women beyond how it related to his protection detail.
"Mah, well, I was a bit curious about what the two of you have been up to recently," said Kakashi. He was a shinobi. Curiosity was half of his job description.
"Yuzu and I have been reading through the books Uzumaki Mamoru left us see if there's a reference to an enemy of the Uzumaki," explained Karin bluntly.
Kakashi looked at her sharply. "Have you found anything?
"I haven't yet," said Karin. "But Yuzu's had extra time to look this afternoon. You could stop in to ask her about it."
Kakashi stopped walking. Karin stopped after a few step and threw him a dubious look over her shoulder. "Aren't you supposed to be escorting me?"
"I don't understand why you and your brother are okay with this!" said Kakashi. "I am not a suitable partner for your sister!"
Karin raised a brow. "Aren't you?"
"No!" said Kakashi. "I'm not a nice person. I've killed people. I'm too old. Why would she want me?"
"I cannot believe this," muttered Karin. She turned around and looked Kakashi dead in the eye. "You think you're too old? You're not that old. You've killed people? Dad's killed people. Ichigo's killed people. You're one of the most powerful shinobi in Konoha, of course you've killed people. It's your job. You're not nice? I'm not nice. Yuzu's in the process of joining T&I where she is going to torture people for a living. They're definitely not going to think of her as nice.
"Yuzu likes you because you looked at her and didn't see a helpless little woman who should stay in the kitchen. She likes you because you're not afraid of her, and most people back in Karakura ended up afraid of her eventually. She likes you because you saw what she can do and gave her the opportunity to protect our family. She likes you because you love Konoha more than you love yourself. She likes you because you need taking care of and Yuzu likes taking care of people. Is that reason enough for you?"
Kakashi was gaping at her. Luckily, no one could tell because of his mask. It took him a few long minutes but he eventually pulled himself together and started walking again.
"I do not need taking care of," he muttered.
Karin snorted. "That's what you think."
Before Kakashi could ask what that was supposed to mean, an alarm sounded from the village walls: enemy forces spotted. The city streets burst into chaos. Shop owners closed their doors and civilians in the street raced for home or the nearest shelter. Kakashi and Karin leapt to the rooftops along with other off-duty shinobi.
Karin's hidden ANBU guard appeared in an instant.
"Head to the Tower," said Kakashi.
"Not the shelter?" asked Rabbit.
"The shelter is where all the civilians will be," said Karin instantly grasping the situation. "They're going to be after me and Yuzu and the other Karin. We don't want to lead these guys to a bunch of civilians."
"Of course," said Rabbit. "Where will you be going, Rokudaime-sama?"
Kakashi hesitated. His first inclination was to go to the wall and get a first hand look at the enemy they were facing. His second inclination was to go to the Kurosaki's apartment and make sure that Yuzu was safe. But as Yamato not-too-subtly pointed out, he was the one in charge.
"I'll be in my office, issuing orders," growled Kakashi.
"Of course, Rokudaime-sama," said Rabbit.
"I'll see you later, Kakashi-san," said Karin. She had taken off her necklace and was wrapping it around her wrist. The cross-shaped charm was glowing with a pale blue light. "Yuzu and I aren't defenseless."
Kakashi took off for the tower, leaving Karin and her escort in the dust. He beat the messenger from the wall by less than a minute. Inuzuka Hana, who was acting Jounin Commander while Shikamaru was away, and Shizune were already waiting.
"Sir," the messenger was a Hyuuga, one of the branch clan, Hian, Kakashi thought his name was.
"Report," barked the acting-Hokage.
"Initial estimates are in the thousands, sir," said the Hyuuga. "They appeared with no warning."
"Thousands," repeated Kakashi even as he considered techniques that could make an army appear from thin air. A fast enough shunshin could be mistaken for materialization, but a Hyuuga would see them coming from miles away. A genjutsu could provide a similar effect, but there were genjutsu-cancelling wards scattered among the trees around the village. One or two individuals might slip by unseen, but thousands would not.
"It has to be fuinjutsu," said Kakashi. But one unlike any he'd ever heard of before. "Have the genin secure the civilians. Send two ANBU squads to support Team Taka and get Karin to the Tower. They'll be in the Uchiha Compound at this time of day. Shizune, prep the hospital and set up a secondary recovery unit. All other shinobi are to assemble in their teams and prepare to defend Konoha."
The various shinobi around the room dispersed to their pre-assigned positions. It was rare for a village to be attacked directly but not impossible as Konoha well knew. Following the Sound Invasion and Pein's assault on the village, every shinobi and civilian knew where to go and what to do during an attack.
The alarm coming from the wall changed again, signalling a breach. Kakashi looked out the window and couldn't stop the feeling of helplessness from overwhelming him.
Enemy shinobi were pouring over the wall in a tidal wave. The sheer numbers were staggering. It was the same tactic their nameless enemy had used to attack Suna, and they didn't have a reckless foreign genin coming to save them.
Kakashi took a deep, settling breath and refocused. Numbers didn't matter. Konoha shinobi were the best in the Elemental Countries and even better when fighting for their home and their people. They didn't need Naruto or Ichigo to save them. They could save themselves.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Lumi Yuen finished his initial report with a bow and handed the scrolls contain the cumulative list of missing shinobi and civilians to the nearest Kage. The Tsuchikage took them gravely and unfurled the scroll containing the list of missing merchants. While it was not unknown for a previously traveling merchant family to settle down, usually there was some indication made to trade partners beforehand, otherwise the loss of custom would be immense. Some of those families had traveled to the Major Hidden Villages, but the shopkeepers would have multiple supply lines. The loss of a single trader would gone unnoticed.
"You said you could not confirm all the missing persons as taken by the Uzu-hunters," said the Hokage. "Could you clarify why you added them to the lists?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama," said Yuen. "While the most obvious shared trait among the missing is red hair, there are a number of people missing who demonstrated extreme longevity, excessive chakra reserves, unusual skill with calligraphy, or forged or missing papers from the time of Uzushiogakure's destruction."
"It would take time to discover those sorts of connections," said the Kazekage thoughtfully. "Which implies whoever is taking potential Uzu-descendants has been planning for sometime before the disappearances began."
Yuen kept his mouth shut. If the Kages wanted to work out on their own what the leaders of the smaller villages had put together ages ago, that was none of his business. Being in a room full of people who could swat him like a bug was not his idea of a good time. He might be an S-class nin, but so was everyone else at the conference table.
There was a commotion from outside as the Tsuchikage passed the scrolls to the Raikage. Every shinobi reached for a weapon as one of the Leaf-nin, a thin, pale young man, who Yuen eventually recognized as Sai, one of Uzumaki Naruto's frequent teammates, dashed into the room. He instantly dropped to one knee in front of the Hokage, and the shinobi relaxed slightly.
"Hokage-sama, Hyuuga Hanabi identified the team sent to Uzu as incoming with an additional injured man," he explained quickly. "A team of samurai is escorting them from the border. Sakura is on her way to intercept and to provide medical assistance."
The Hokage's frown at the mention of an unknown casualty warred with the clear relief that her shinobi were returning safely. "That team was sent to Uzu to perform reconnaissance. If Sakura believes they are in condition to report, redirect them here. Dismissed."
The dark-haired shinobi left with a bow. The Hokage then turned her attention to Yuen, who prayed to any listening gods that he looked calmer than he felt. He was not going to suggest that he leave—he was a ninja and he wanted to know what was going on—but if the Hokage insisted, he might not have the strength to protest. Instead, she moved on to lock gazes with her fellow Kage, who nodded one-by-one, though somewhat reluctantly on the part of the Tsuchikage, until she at last settled her stare on General Mifune, who thoughtfully stroked his beard and nodded once.
It was Mifune-soutaicho who looked at Yuen and said, "As you represent the interests of the Minor Hidden Villages, you may remain while we discuss the issue of the missing Uzu-descendants."
"Thank you, it is an honor," said Yuen bowing slightly.
He moved away from the center of room to occupy a stretch of empty wall beside the door. He hadn't expected the Kages to want much from him other than his report. Even if it was just lip service, it was nice to see the Major Villages paying some attention to the concerns of the smaller Villages.
There was a tense few minutes at the Kages passed around the scrolls Yuen had bought and the shinobi acting as their guards discussed the meeting among themselves. He wasn't sure how the discussion had been going before he arrived, but now most of the shinobi in the room appeared at least interested in a more serious investigation into the disappearances. Yuen wasn't sure how much more new information the Major Villages could discover, but some interest was better than no interest.
The door opened next to Yuen and he got an up-close and personal look at the people who shuffled into the room. The Hyuuga-heiress, a main family Inuzuka and his canine companion, and the Aburame heir, all contemporaries of the Hokage-to-be Naruto, made up the team sent by the Hokage. Dirt, blood, and the black goo that made up the bodies of the destroyed Uzu-snatchers streaked their pale clothes and fur.
There was a haphazard smattering of bandages that indicated at least one of them had attempted first-aid, but it was also quite clear that they had not stopped to rest in at least a day. When they went to kneel, Yuen was afraid they would topple over and he wasn't the only one. The Hokage didn't indicate any of them should rise to speak, probably hoping that more contact with the ground would keep them upright.
Just behind them were two samurai carrying another shinobi on a stretcher. Jogging alongside them was Tsunade's apprentice using a healing jutsu on the shinobi's gaping chest wound. There was a hole where the man's heart should be, Yuen wasn't sure how he was alive.
The samurai put the stretcher on the ground next to the kneeling shinobi and Sakura went with it, a scowl of concentration on her face. The shinobi was a Mist-nin judging by his forehead protector. The sharp gasp from the Mizukage was good clue too.
"Ansei was part of the team I sent to Whirlpool," she said. "What happened?"
"Report," barked the Hokage.
Yuen listened as the Hyuuga explained her team's actions, the long observation of fallen Uzushiogakure, the evidence of people passing thru but the utter lack of bodies, and the certainty they all shared that passing the artificial border around the village was to be avoided at all costs. Yuen couldn't help but pale as she described their journey down the coast and the cove full of rotting corpses and one Kiri-nin clinging to life. He was pleased to see even the Kages looked disturbed by the idea.
The Hyuuga outlined their escape from the small army of ink-and-paper soldiers. Yuen hadn't realized the Uzu-hunters were made of ink and paper, but for a threat coming from Uzu that made a twisted sort of sense. He was dismayed to learn that while the group team had had mild success destroying the enemy with Aburame's chakra draining bugs, they had been pushed far off the direct path as a time-delaying tactic and were positive they had been let go as a taunt.
"I have a complete copy of the seals used to create the false shinobi," said the Hyuuga as she finished. "I didn't understand them. But I thought Naruto or another seal-master could."
She withdrew a packet of paper from her sleeve and held it out toward the Hokage. Naruto dove for it like an orange-clad eagle after a fish. He retreated back to the Hokage's side and started shuffling pages.
"Thanks, Hinata," he said with a brief flash of a grin. "Neji didn't get a very good look at the one we caught in Suna."
He immediately started pouring through the packet, ignoring the rest of the world entirely. Flipping through each page with a displeased grunt at what he saw, after a moment he pulled out a clean scroll and dropped out of sight, presumably to work out the seals from a more comfortable seat on the floor. When it became clear Naruto would not have any world changing epiphanies in the next few minutes, the Kages returned their attention to the kneeling shinobi.
"And what of my shinobi?" asked the Mizukage into the silence. "Ansei?"
The Mist-nin tried to sit up, but Tsunade's apprentice held him down. "Give your report lying down or you won't survive giving it," she snapped.
That settled the shinobi down quickly. His voice was soft but steady as he did his best to convey his report. "Mizukage, we approached from the land as the Konoha team did and agreed we should not pass the boundary. We decided to swim into the port assuming the boundary ended at the sea. We were wrong. As soon as we reached the docks we were confronted by a squad of false shinobi and captured.
"Our team was taken to the main square to be brought before their leader, a man who referred to himself as Hantokei. He is the exact image of the constructs but at the same time clearly a real man. As we arrived, he was dealing with a group of captives. He used…"
Ansei paused to take several shallow breaths. The green light of Sakura's healing jutsu served to highlight the horror on his face as he continued. "Hantokei used a technique similar to Edo Tensei on the captives. For those who had Uzu-blood the technique changed them into former Whirlpool shinobi. The resurrected Uzu-nin had to obey Hantokei but vocally objected to his command. The unrelated prisoners died when their bodies warped beyond the ability to sustain life. "
Shinobi did not gasp in alarm, but there was a strong desire to do so from everyone in the room. Very few of the Minor Villages had sent shinobi to join the Alliance. There hadn't been enough time for the Major Villages to send requests for aid, if they even thought to do so, before the brief but brutal Fourth Shinobi War. But Yuen had heard stories about Edo Tensei and the effects of that forbidden technique.
"After he finished with the captives, Hantokei approached us and examined our hitai-ate. He said, "Uzu survivors would never go to the Land of Water. These are useless." Then ordered the copies to kill us and throw our bodies with the others. I survived the death blow but was too weak to swim away. I floated in the current until the Leaf-nin found me. I brought back proof," he turned his head to look at the Hyuuga. "Leaf-nin."
"Akamaru," she said.
The nin-dog pulled a sack from its back and with help from his Inuzuka owner, tipped out a pile of hitai-ate and a matching number of severed fingers. Yuen leaned forward catching sight of a Getsugakure symbol among the rest. He wondered which of his missing comrades the accompanying finger belonged to.
"Took forehead protectors from as many shinobi as I could reach, one or two from every village," said Ansei weakly. "There were civilians too, a lot more of them than shinobi, but I couldn't tell who would claim them."
The Kages were grim as they stared at the pile. One or two shinobi from every village meant dozens of fingers and hitai-ate. The smell of rotting flesh was slowly overtaking the conference room.
"Good work, Ansei," said the Mizukage. "Sakura-sensei, please do what you can."
"He'll be able to answer any remaining questions later," said the medic-nin firmly. "And the rest of them need medical attention too."
"You're all dismissed to the medic's station," said Tsunade. "We will summon you if we need more clarification following your initial report."
There was a murmur of acknowledgement from the Leaf-nin. They rose unsteadily to their feet and the samurai returned to carry away Ansei. Sakura stalked out after them, determination burning bright in her eyes. Yuen watched them leave then returned his attention to the Kages.
The Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Mizukage all looked much more serious than they had before. The Hokage and Kazekage both looked grimly satisfied. General Mifune's expression remained unchanged and neutral. It was obvious to Yuen that the other Kages had not really believed the threat to be that serious to themselves or their shinobi.
"Hantokei," murmured the Hokage. "Anti-time or, perhaps, counter-clockwise. Naruto!"
A blond head of spiky hair appeared above the edge of the table. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"Didn't Team Taka mention clocks in one of their reports?" demanded Tsunade.
Naruto considered this for half a moment. "Yeah! They were tracking some missing nin who had tried to kidnap Karin and found a whole kidnapped family. The old man talked about going against the clock and the backwards clock and a lock and...being out of time." Naruto became immediately subdued. "Team Cicada was supposed to escort them to the nearest outpost but they disappeared."
Yuen blanched. An animal designation rather than a personal one meant that the team had been one of Konoha's ANBU squads. They weren't impossible to kill and having a group of civilians with them would have slowed them down, but there should have been some sign of a fight.
"You didn't mention you had lost ANBU to this threat," said Kurotsuchi sharply.
The Hokage grimaced, and Yuen could imagine why. Admitting to losing shinobi in front of your sort-of-allies-mostly-enemies had to be difficult. Admitting to losing a squad of ANBU could be seen as a weakness and an invitation to attack. It was part of why the minor Villages had held back from reaching out to their larger counterparts for so long.
Tsunade glanced at her jounin commander and gave a slight nod.
Nara Shikamaru grimaced and explained, "We've lost three ANBU squads to this enemy in the past six months."
Yuen wasn't the only shinobi to express dismay at his words. Konoha's ANBU were some of the best in the Elemental Countries. And for a village to lose so many at once outside of war was all but unthinkable.
"When dispatched, all three teams were aware of a potential ambush," he continued. "So far, the only team that has survived an encounter in the field and reported back successfully was Team Taka, and that was a near thing due to the presence of an Uzumaki on the team."
Yuen had never had a run-in with Team Taka, but he had heard stories. It was a team full of monsters and almost unbeatable. He hadn't realized one was an Uzumaki though. That meant Konohagakure had the highest concentration of openly serving Uzumaki anywhere. Were they being saved for last?
"That puts everything in a completely different light," said the Raikage.
The Mizukage sighed explosively. "The team I dispatched was also experienced ANBU. I did not expect to lose any of them."
Yuen glanced toward the door automatically. That made the guy's survival at least a little less surprising. Getsugakure wasn't large enough to have a separate ANBU division. Yuen wasn't sure that any of the smaller Hidden Villages did. But his team was one of the elite of their village and the closest they had to official ANBU. The Uzu-hunters were a serious issue, and he was finding it hard to believe that the Kages were completely unaware of this threat until recently.
"Excuse my intrusion," said Yuen, his mouth moving before his brain could stop it, "But the smaller Villages thought the Major Villages were unaware of the situation because your shinobi weren't going missing. If there are really as many dead shinobi in that cove as reported, how could you not have noticed?"
There was a damnable silence from the suddenly stone-faced Kages and their advisors.
General Mifune cleared his throat. "I am also concerned by this matter. We lose the bodies of two or three samurai every year on border patrol due to ambush or accident, but a dramatic increase in missing samurai could not be overlooked. I have studied the active duty roster carefully justice in case. How is it so for you shinobi?"
"Not all shinobi are in favor of the Alliance," said the Kazekage calmly. "And it is hard to set aside old hate. Following the formation of the Shinobi Alliance, many ninja retired or deserted because they could not fight alongside their former enemies. I assumed that many of Suna's missing shinobi were deserters after our Hunter-nin found no trace of them. It appears I have done my people a grave injustice."
There were murmurs of agreement from the Kages. Yuen tried not to bite his tongue or make any other disparaging comment. He had never seriously thought about what it would be like to come from a Major Hidden Village except for the vague idea of access to more resources and a wider variety of jutsu. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to die in service to his village and simply be overlooked as a possible deserter. If the bigger villages had been paying attention, would they have done something a year ago? Would he have still lost his team? Or would have more lives been lost, trying to confront an enemy they clearly couldn't defeat?
"Yes!" shouted Naruto loudly, popping up off the floor, and slamming a scroll down next to the Hokage. "Obaa-san, this is it!"
The Hokage jumped in surprise and slammed his head down onto the table creating a sizeable dent in the wood. "Naruto, we're having a serious discussion! And don't call me Granny!"
None of the other Konoha shinobi flicked an eye at this behaviour though some of the other Kages' retinue looked concerned. Yuen considered this the ultimate proof that all Leaf-nin really were insane and promised himself that after this mess was over he was never going near Konohagakure. His sister's genin team would just have to sit out the next promotion exam.
Naruto pushed himself up without seeming to notice the rebuke or the blow that would have given a normal shinobi a concussion and pointed at the scroll.
"Whatever, I've figured out the seals. See here, this part is the natural chakra collector that Neji identified, but this part is a chakra converter. The natural chakra can be converted to any element. That's how the fake shinobi power themselves and do all those different attacks. It's a pretty tricky seal. Anybody could do any kind of elemental jutsu with these no matter how big, if it didn't make anything with its own chakra explode."
Naruto stabbed at a different part of the scroll seemingly ignorant of the greedy light in the other Kages' eyes until he mentioned the exploding. "This bit right here is the part that freezes the Uzumaki chakra. You can tell because of all of the swirly bits."
There weren't that many fuinjutsu users in Getsugakure, but Yuen was sure he had never heard any of them refer to part of a complicated seal as a swirly bit.
"But this is the good part," continued Naruto. "There are two mirror seals with itty-bitty differences. This mirror reflects what the ink construct sees and stores it in a memory repository. And this mirror connects to the memory repository and a completely different mirror—a master construct that receives information and sends orders to the rest. If we destroy that one, all the others will fall apart."
Yuen felt the world rock beneath him. There was a way to destroy all of the Uzu-hunters at once? The unending tide of shinobi could be stopped by killing one? None of the minor Villages had reported success in containing one of the hunters long enough to study the seals that powered them. Was it really that simple?
"Are you sure, Naruto?" pressed the Hokage. "None of these look like seals I've seen before."
"I'm sure," said Naruto firmly. "And if they don't look familiar, it's because they're backwards."
The Hokage frowned at the scroll again. Yuen leaned forward unconsciously, itching to see the seals written out himself even if only knew the most basic fuinjutsu. What was a backwards seal? Everyone knew if you drew seals in the wrong direction, they failed to work.
"That does not look like a reversed mirror seal to me," said Tsunade.
Naruto shook his head. "They're not reversed. They're backwards. They've been drawn in the wrong direction and set up outside-in. It's not a style of sealing anyone in the Elemental Countries uses. I only figured it out cause one of the books the twins gave me comes with a giant warning that says trying to write a seal backwards could implode the universe."
Yuen thought that the Uzumaki could have sounded slightly more concerned about the universe imploding. That was the sort of thing that could ruin a person's day. The Kages in the room seemed to agree if the subsequent argument was any indication.
Yuen closed his eyes and exhaled a long sigh of... Relief? Exhaustion? Dismay? All three probably. He had been charged with informing the Kages of the Major Hidden Villages about the missing Uzumaki, and he had accomplished his mission. Now all he could do was wait and see what happened next.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Hinata followed her teammates into the well-stocked medical center next to the meeting hall. Even at the first Kage Summit so many years ago, the samurai had never thought to invite the shinobi directly into one of their cities where their families and civilians lived. The building was originally an abandoned outpost hastily retrofitted into a council chamber and little more.
Over the years, other buildings slowly grew around it including an expanded mess hall, independent barracks for each of the shinobi nations, and a state-of-the-art infirmary for the inevitable "training accidents" that happened when members of historically inimical martial states were forced together in highly stressful conditions or for when the enemy that prompted the meeting inevitably attacked. Tsunade had personally designed the medical facilities at General Mifune's request.
As a result, the infirmary felt familiar, if not comfortable, to all of the Konoha-nin. So when Hinata saw her sister and her sister's teammate lying unconscious on two of the beds, she felt absolutely no hesitation in charging over to read their charts. In her panic, she didn't bother to look down and tripped over something that responded with a panicked yelp.
The world flipped around in a dizzying blur of color. Hinata spared the thought she was glad she was in the infirmary already, but after her team's frantic flight and the stress of reporting to the Kages, Hinata didn't have the energy to avoid hitting the ground. Someone caught her anyway, keeping her from collapsing on the ground, or more accurately on top of him.
Hinata found herself staring straight into Kurosaki Ichigo's eyes with barely an inch between them. His cheeks were slowly turning red and there was a distinct tension in the little bit of his face that he could see. Hinata couldn't understand why at first. Then she recovered enough of her sense to feel exactly where he was bracing her.
Hinata's coat was very thick, and shinobi women rarely grew as large in the chest as their civilian counterparts, but she wasn't exactly flat either. Ichigo had to know exactly what he was grabbing, and he still wasn't letting go. Hinata could feel her face flush to match his. She wanted to cry from embarrassment and maybe slap him too.
Ichigo closed his eyes, obviously bracing for impact, and muttered miserably, "Sword."
Hinata glanced down to where their bodies had the most contact. Ichigo was putting a lot of effort into holding them as far apart as possible, and except for her chest and where her knees were planted in his lap in a way that probably was uncomfortable, they weren't really touching at all. The space between them was taken up by Zangetsu. The large blade was wedged against Konomaru's bed. Its gleaming edge was only inches away from her stomach.
Hinata instantly tightened her core muscles, gaining another precious centimeter of separation.
It was obvious what had happened if one was familiar with Ichigo. He had been sitting between his teammates' beds and meditating with sword across his lap in the pose he called jinzen. Nothing could bring him out of that meditation short of an actual threat to his person. Neji reported Ichigo was able to ignore both Lee and Gai at their most youthful while in jinzen. (Hinata suspected he was jealous.) Ichigo wouldn't have registered Hinata racing to Hanabi's side until she knocked Ichigo and Zangetsu over.
The question became what Hinata was going to do. She couldn't push herself off the ground. Ichigo's arms were longer than hers and already fully extended to keep her in one piece. The beds were too far away for her to grab. Like Konoha's hospital, the infirmary had been designed with enough room to roll an extra gurney between each bed in case of an emergency. That left her with only one real option.
"Sorry, Kurosaki-san," she whispered and shifted her weight back.
To his credit, Ichigo only grunted instead of screaming the way Kiba or Shino would have in a similar situation, and he only curled up a little bit when she moved off of him completely. His blush had faded entirely during the process, but when they were both sitting up, they caught each other's eyes and it came flaming back for both of them.
"Let us hope their children are thick-skinned. Why? Because they will be mistaken for tomatoes otherwise," muttered Shino quietly enough that Hinata could pretend she hadn't heard it.
"You could've helped, you know," said Ichigo gingerly rising to his feet.
From the area around Ichigo's ankles, Kon said, "But you looked like you were having so much fun!"
While Kiba said, "And interrupt your longed-for reunion?"
Ichigo shut up both of them by throwing Kon at Kiba's head. A doll was normally no challenge for a trained shinobi, but usually toys didn't hold on to what they were thrown at. Kiba overbalanced trying to pull Kon off and they crashed to the ground. Akamaru flopped on top of his Inuzuka, pinning him down. Hinata felt it was nothing less than karmic justice.
Then she recalled what had led to the situation in the first place and scrambled to her feet to check on Hanabi.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"They're fine," said Ichigo tugging ineffectively at his sword to untangle it from Konohamaru's bed. "We were training this morning, and they wore themselves out. Hanabi spotted you guys coming in just before she passed out."
Hinata had assumed as much when their escort appeared with Sakura before they even reached the samurai's outer patrol circuit. She had been able to see the location of the Kage Summit with her own byakugan when she focused forward but had mostly been concentrating her attention on their rear to see if any of the fake shinobi would appear at the last moment. She couldn't decided if she was relieved or frightened that they hadn't.
"What sort of training would they follow to the point of exhaustion in front of the other nations?" asked Shino.
Ichigo flinched guiltily and inadvertently stabbed his sword several inches deeper into Konohamaru's mattress. Ichigo glanced around for a nearby medic but they were all with Ansei in surgery. After confirming the coast was clear, Ichigo shoved Zangetsu a further into the bed, gaining enough room to pull the weapon up and away without breaking anything else. He sheathed it over his shoulder and it faded into nothingness like usual.
"Did you do something to Hanabi and Konohamaru, Kurosaki-san?" asked Hinata in surprise.
"They asked if I could show them how to sense reiatsu, so they could tell when I was using a technique," explained Ichigo. "It's not a difficult skill, but it's not something that's easy to demonstrate. I don't think they realized how tired they'd be after, but they'll be fine when they wake up. They aren't injured at all."
Hinata felt herself relax at his assurances. "That's good."
Now that Hinata was at her side, it was obvious that Hanabi was only sleeping. Her little sister had been a shinobi for years, taking more difficult missions as frequently as she could under the eyes of chunin and jounin instructors. Hanabi had been hospitalized before, and it would happen more often now that she was chunin, but Hinata reserved the right to worry. Still, she couldn't imagine how training with Ichigo would have necessitated a stay in the infirmary.
Kiba had dragged himself off the floor despite Akamaru's interference, and he and Shino planted themselves on the beds across the way. Hinata perched next to Hanabi and Ichigo leaned casually against the wall. Kon leaped to Ichigo's shoulder from the floor, and Hinata was amazed as usual at the mobility of the little lion. Their antics would have attracted some attention from a medic by now, except they were all in the operating theater at the end of the medical center working on Ansei. Even Ino was back there assisting Sakura.
"How did you demonstrate?" asked Shino, his professional curiosity as an Academy instructor obvious to those who knew him.
"Where I'm from if you have any spiritual pressure at all, you can usually notice other people's reiatsu. There's not really any training for it, just encountering enough people with strong pressure until you can tell them apart," explained Ichigo. "I got the idea from Sakura when she showed us how to test for chakra in civilians."
"You pushed your reiatsu at them and had them push back?" asked Shino.
"Pretty much," said Ichigo.
Hinata furrowed her brow and glanced at Hanabi. Sensing chakra didn't require any extra energy use at close range. She didn't imagine that sensing reiatsu could be that different, not when the two kinds of power looked so similar to her byakugan. Surely that couldn't be all that happened. Hanabi hadn't even passed out the first time she activated her dojutsu.
"That doesn't sound so hard," said Kiba as idly stroked Akamaru's head. "What are they doing in the infirmary?"
Ichigo shrugged. "I had to crush them with my spiritual pressure so they could use their own. Sakura insisted I bring them to the infirmary before she went to catch up with you guys. I would have anyway, just to double-check, but they're fine other than a few bruises."
Hinata gaped at him. It wasn't particularly lady-like, but as long as her father wasn't around to see, Hinata thought she could get away with it.
"You were crushing them?" she shrieked.
"Calm down, Hinata," said Kiba, who had clearly not spent enough time with any of the bluntly honest Kurosakis. "I'm sure he wasn't actually crushing them, crushing them. Were you?"
"Yes?" said Ichigo tentatively. "It really only works if you think you're going to die. But I wasn't going to kill them. And they did fine. Great even! They didn't even stop breathing once!"
Hinata thought Ichigo might have been trying to reassure her, but he was failing miserably at it.
"That cannot be how you were trained," said Shino flatly, more so than usual.
Ichigo threw up his hands. "I just said there wasn't any training for it!"
Kon waved at them from his position on Ichigo's shoulder. "Rukia-nee-san stabbed him in the stomach with a zanpakuto, then Byakuya shot a lightning bolt through his chest, and then Kenpachi basically swatted him like a bug with his reiatsu, and then Ichigo kind of started sensing reiatsu reliably."
"Kon, don't tell them that," said a mortified Ichigo. "And those incidents were weeks apart! And none of them would do something like that now."
For a plush lion with button eyes, Kon could pull of an incredulous stare amazingly well.
"Okay, but none of them would be trying to kill me anymore," corrected Ichigo.
"Hinata, be honest, is this guy an idiot?" asked Kiba.
Hinata was undergoing extreme emotional whiplash. She was not happy that Ichigo had simulated killing Hanabi in the name of training. On the other hand, training as a shinobi was inherently dangerous and accidents happened. Not to mention, she hated the cavalier attitude toward his own life that Ichigo continued to display, but she was glad that he had continued to survive and didn't seem too traumatized by his near misses. Running from the fake shinobi for days had been physically draining but much, much simpler.
"This is why we don't ask Kurosaki questions," muttered Hanabi drowsily.
"Hanabi!" said Hinata. "You're awake!"
Hanabi hadn't stirred much, just opened her eyes and lifted her head to get a good look at the people around her.
Hanabi squinted at her. "Nee-sama, you look terrible."
Hinata glance down at herself. The Hyuuga tendency to wear light-colored clothing even on the battlefield was a matter of pride, an obvious sign that no one could come close enough to touch them. However, it was less than helpful when trying to escape. If her team had actually infiltrated Uzushio, she might have switched to a darker coat and spared this one the journey back. But they didn't, so she hadn't. She looked like a mess, she was streaked with dirt and blood and icky black goop, and she must have bags under her eyes. And Ichigo had seen her face up close! Then she had yelled at him! This was terrible. Her face went pink again.
"We were running for our lives for days," said Kiba jumping in to defend her. "Hinata's allowed to look a little messy. Not to mention she had a bit of a tussle with Kurosaki just now—"
Shino elbowed Kiba in the side. The Aburame was definitely Hinata's favorite teammate.
"You were fighting with Ichigo?" asked Hanabi in confusion, still not totally awake.
Ichigo was also looking distinctly pink. "Hyuuga-san was concerned about the training we did this morning."
"Oh, that sucked," said Hanabi.
Hinata frowned. Her sister had undoubtedly picked up that sort of language from close association with Konohamaru. It was fortunate none of the elders were present to hear her.
"But I think it worked, maybe?" said Hanabi. "You're there. And then there's something else that way." She flopped a hand weakly toward the entrance.
Ichigo looked thoughtful. "That's probably Naruto and the other guy, the Kazekage." He scowled gently at Hanabi. "You should probably go back to sleep."
"But if Hinata-nee-sama and her team are back, then that means we finally have actionable intelligence, right?" protested Hanabi. "We'll be leaving soon. I have to get ready."
"The Kages are probably still arguing about everything," said Ichigo calmly. "Do you really want to listen Konohamaru bragging when he receives a mission because he's well-rested and you have to stay behind?"
Hanabi whipped her head around to glare daggers at Konohamaru, who was sleeping away, peacefully oblivious to discussion going on around him.
"Fine," she muttered. She pulled the thin hospital sheet up to her chin, curled onto her side, and drifted away almost instantly.
"Is that normal?" asked Hinata. Hanabi had a lot external pressure from the clan and internal pressure from herself to do well. She rarely slept so easily, even after returning from a mission.
"Yeah, I used to always pass out when I used my spiritual energy," said Ichigo. "Eventually you build up endurance, just like anything else."
Hinata relaxed enough to smile at him. Ichigo immediately blushed again. Thankfully, before either of her teammates could comment, the medic-nin started leaving the operating theater. Sakura and Ino headed for their group automatically.
"Is Ansei-san going to recover?" asked Hinata when women reached them..
Ino shrugged and immediately started to check over Shino. Sakura flopped onto the bed next to them, utterly exhausted.
"He'll live," said Sakura. "I don't know if he'll make it off the disabled list though. He did a lot to save himself. He'd make a good medic-nin with some training."
Hinata and Ino shared a look. It was popular among their generation and younger for shinobi to train as medic-nin, especially in Konoha. Sakura thought anyone with half-way decent chakra control should study as a medic-nin, and she was relentlessly persistent. Kurenai-sensei had complained at length about the medic-nin corps stealing potential genjutsu users to Hinata more than once.
Ino healed the handful of more serious injuries Hinata and her teammates had acquired, pronounced them fit, and ordered them to get some food and sleep and to take Sakura with them, since Forehead-Girl clearly couldn't look after herself. Kiba and Shino dragged Sakura off before the incipient argument could grow further. Hinata trailed out after them, glancing back to look at Hanabi. If anyone happened to notice her eyes lingered on Ichigo, who was standing guard while his teammates recovered, well, Ino was the only one in a position to notice, and she was a terrible romantic.
-0-0-0-0-0-
When a messenger-hawk arriving for Gaara prompted a break, Naruto couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and take the chance to escape outside. After the report from the Moon-nin, the Abu-Hyu-Inu team, and Ansei of Kirigakure, the other villages had incontrovertible proof that someone was planning something terrible with Uzushiogakure as a base.
Unfortunately, what the Kages were going to do with that information was less certain. The council had spent most of the day debating back and forth. A brief respite for lunch hadn't done much to make the situation any better, just given them all strength to keep arguing, and with the dinner hour approaching, Naruto was starting to doubt the council would decide anything that day. He had already done his part by interpreting the seals Hinata provided. Tsunade was Hokage, and she had the final say on Konoha's actions and whether or not they would move without the support of the other Major Hidden Villages.
If it was going to be a long break, Naruto thought he might go check on Sakura and Ichigo. One of the samurai runners reported that Ansei's surgery was over and that he was resting comfortably in the medical center, but Sakura hadn't come to join them after, which meant she was probably recovering herself. Naruto knew Ichigo was still with his teammates. He could check on his cousin and see if Sakura had collapsed there or made it back to her bunk.
The sight of a second hawk flying toward Naruto startled him out of his thoughts. It was a familiar looking hawk too, one of Sasuke's, not Suna's.
Naruto held out an arm and the bird settled with a tidy flap of her wings. "Hey, Garuko-chan. What's up?"
Garuko was the oldest egg of Garuda, Sasuke's hawk summon, and while she was closer to a regular hawk in size, she was the fastest creature in the sky. She bobbed her head in a bird's version of a bow.
"Naruto-sama," she said utterly respectful. "I have an urgent message from Konoha."
Naruto untied the scroll from her leg, and Garuko jumped to his shoulder while he read. Fury boiled Naruto's blood and he saw red. Garuko leapt off her perch with a startled caw as Naruto's chakra seeped into the air around them. He turned on his heel and ran for Tsunade.
The mood inside the meeting chamber was grim before Naruto burst into the room, and he looked toward the Hokage automatically.
"Naruto," said Tsunade barely looking up at his dramatic entrance. "Baki sends word that Temari and Kankuro have been taken."
Rage made it hard for Naruto speak, but he finally growled, "Those bastards attacked Konoha!"
Everyone looked at him then and Tsunade's eyes widened in alarm before he shoved Sasuke's missive at her, and okay, his fingernails were a little more claw-like than usual, but that was perfectly normal when he was upset! Naruto took a few deep breaths and asked Kurama to tone down the demonic energy. The Kyuubi did so reluctantly.
According to the brief report, thousands of shinobi had flooded Konoha like a tidal wave. It was the same attack they had used against Suna, but without someone like Gaara to stem the tide or Ichigo to flatten it, Konoha was overrun. No civilians were killed though many were injured, some severely, but ten genin and three chunin had died in the attacks. The fake shinobi had Karin and the Kurosaki twins, and they had called out Tsunade and Naruto. The enemy would keep the girls alive, if they reached Uzushiogakure fast enough. Kakashi had sent Team Taka ahead to scout the situation and would be heading there with reinforcements barring orders to the contrary from the Hokage.
Tsunade's gaze was firm when she met Naruto's eyes.
"Shikamaru, tell our shinobi to prepare to leave," ordered Tsunade. "Naruto, make sure Kurosaki doesn't go running off on his own this time. Garuko, can you take a message to Kakashi for me?"
"Of course, Hokage-sama," said the hawk, who had followed Naruto inside.
Naruto barely registered the questions from the other shinobi in the room. Granny Tsunade still had her uses. He hadn't even considered his cousin's reaction to the news. Naruto would track down Ichigo and make sure he didn't do anything stupid. Then they and the other Konoha shinobi would rescue the rest of their family together.