The rest of the Konoha ANBU expeditionary team was alive, but just barely. Yuugao, as effective interim team leader, made fanatical efforts to spur her comrades onwards, but it was hard under the circumstances. Their force was down to just six members. Everyone was tense and edgy, and morale was shaky.
Yuugao had trouble resting. The previous night, she woke up three hours before her watch in a cold sweat. She almost screamed aloud, but managed to control herself in the last second. That was most fortunate for both her and her distraught and demoralized teammates. The last thing the Konoha survivors needed was for their team leader to break under the pressure. The nightmare felt so real, though that could be because the events were real.
It was after the implementation of Haruto's ruse and their successful escape to the southwest. On the run, Yuugao made the critical tactical decision to sacrifice caution in favor of speed. She found it imperative that they put as much distance as possible between them and the main enemy force to the north. Alas, fate was a bitch. At a vast clearing just a few miles from Hidden Rain, the Konoha ANBU encountered two jounin-less genin teams heading home. Their jounin instructors must have been called to the ambush force.
Yuugao Uzuki was not cruel, malicious or evil. However, she was a kunoichi, an ANBU of Konoha and one of the best. Whatever her morals were, her loyalty was ultimately to Konoha and to her subordinates. Hence, she did not hesitate to give the kill command. The Rain genin could not be allowed to escape lest they call for reinforcements from the nearby village.
Six unescorted genin against a larger force of ANBU from the most powerful ninja village in the land… The result was never in doubt. The four genin who stayed to fight were easily isolated and overwhelmed while the two who fled were hunted down with equally little trouble. The battle (if it could be called that) was short, brutal and entirely one-sided. It was only after the deed was done that the Konoha ninja realized how young their opponents were. Yuugao swore that not one of the dead genin looked as old as Haruto. Such was Rain's envy for its powerful neighbors, Iwa and Konoha, and its desire for similar greatness.
The future Yondaime Hokage famously cautioned at the height of the war against Iwa that while their profession called upon them to perform many unsavory tasks, "there is no glory in vanquishing the weak, no joy in subjugating the lame, and no triumph in slaughtering the pitiable."
The former Hokage's immemorial words undoubtedly rang in the ears of the Konoha ANBU as they grimly went about the work of hiding the bodies. No one could question the logic of Yuugao's decision, but neither could anyone deny the pointlessness of the butchery itself.
Two days had since passed with no further incident. That was both good and bad. Good for obvious reasons; bad because Haruto, the daring, young, blond prodigy responsible for their survival, had yet to return.
"The area before us appears clear."
Yuugao nodded in return. Just a few more hours and they would be in Konoha territory.
The rest of the team remained hopeful about Genji, but Yuugao feared for the worst. The haunting images of the dead Rain nin refused to leave her mind. Perhaps it was retribution from the heavens—an eye for an eye and all that. Though losing someone like Haruto for six Rain genin was too high a price for Konoha.
"Do you hear that?" Yuugao's voice jerked her fellow ANBU to attention.
"I hear nothing."
"Exactly!" she whispered back fiercely. A forest should never, ever be this quiet. Out of the corners of her eyes she saw one of her ANBU teammates stumble and swear.
"Look out—" Yuugao's warning was cut off as her entire team was caught in a deadly hail of senbon needles and shuriken.
" Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Caught off guard, the remnants of Konoha's ANBU Team Gamma were rapidly taken down. Yuugao weakly lifted a hand to alleviate the pricking sensation at the base of her neck. She winced as her hand touched the senbon needle. The kunoichi desperately fought to remain awake but inexplicably, her strength and energy were completely sapped. She slumped to the ground in a dead faint.
"Senpai!"
The purple-haired kunoichi gasped as cold water was splashed across her face.
"Wha—" She coughed violently as her parched throat resisted her efforts to speak.
"Easy, easy. Drink this. You're still weak."
That was the understatement of the century. Yuugao felt like her body had been pulled through the meat grinder. She looked down at her torn clothing and bloodied, dirtied, and bruised body. She looked the part, too. Haruto, or rather Genji's, battle weary face entered her field of vision. The kunoichi winced as her student plucked the senbon out of her neck.
"Ha-Genji, what happened? Where did you come from? Where's the enemy?" Heck, where was everyone else? Yuugao looked around and saw only two bodies lying on the ground.
"I was the enemy. Your teammates were, in fact, Rain ninja." Haruto removed the mask of one of the fake Konoha ANBU members. On the ninja's forehead protector was emblazoned the Rain symbol.
Yuugao's eyes widened. She tried to think but her memory was fuzzy and her brain felt like it was under siege from a killer migraine.
"Your team was overtaken by Rain pursuers some time ago. They poisoned you with a potent mind drug that made you think you were still with your team. That senbon I hit you with was coated with the antidote I found on a Rain nin earlier. You'll be weak during the first hours of withdrawal, but you should be fine afterwards."
Of course. It vaguely made sense to Yuugao once her mind cleared up a bit.
"Glad you haven't ignored all of those medical info sessions that you called useless junk." It was widely known that all of the hidden villages, big and small, used mind serums of one form or another for interrogation purposes. But anything deeper than general academy level info was kept hush-hush and classified on grounds of national security. Yuugao now understood why. Being drugged by a mind serum was like falling for a very, very advanced genjutsu mirage, except unlike a genjutsu, one simply could not escape.
"Were there any other survivors?" Yuugao asked.
Genji's face was grim. "I found one other. He's currently—"
A sudden rustling of leaves put both ANBU members on guard. Seconds later, the figure bounded from amongst the trees. "Sir!"
Haruto relaxed as he recognized the shinobi. The last Konoha survivor was panting hard and looked like he had seen better days.
"Any luck?" the disguised blond asked.
A left to right shake left the child ninja looking grim. Guess that answered Yuugao's question regarding survivors.
"Anything else?"
"A Rain relief force is heading this way, but they don't seem to be in any hurry."
Good, Haruto thought. That meant the enemy still thought they were all captured or dead. But that would change once they found the bodies of their comrades.
"The Konoha border is just a short distance away."
Those miles seemed like leagues to Yuugao who struggled to stand upright. Haruto took notice and did not hesitate to lift the taller kunoichi into his arms. She wanted to protest. She would undoubtedly slow down her pupil and the last surviving member of Gamma Team. Haruto, however, directed a firm look at his superior. Yuugao bit her tongue. She could order him to leave her behind just as she could threaten him with demotion, but she was reasonably certain that he would just ignore her.
"Just don't get yourself killed," Yuugao muttered finally. Her student's cocky and good-humored smile almost made her forget about the life and death situation they were in. While the kunoichi was by no means heavy, she was an elite ANBU and was therefore rather well built, and Haruto was such a young boy. It took him a while to figure out how much chakra to expend to accommodate for the extra weight.
Once the Special ANBU was sure that he was not going to drop his sensei, he jumped into the trees followed closely by his comrade. It was not a moment too soon either. An outcry of alarm alerted the Konoha fugitives that their respite was over. The forest rapidly passed them by as they picked up speed, but it was not enough.
"They are gaining on us!"
I know that, you idiot! Haruto swore. He could sense the Rain hunter team closing steadily. Despite what others thought, the young ninja was perfectly aware of his limits and knew he had reached them. He was out of weapons, out of explosive tags and almost out of chakra. And he suspected that his sole remaining teammate was not doing much better.
Come on, be there, Haruto prayed. His last hope for salvation was to collide with Konoha border patrols which should be in the area… in theory. The problem was that a third of the time, the patrols altered their schedule to confuse spies and enemy infiltrators. If this was one of those third times, they—that is Yuugao, he and the idiot—were done for.
"L-leave me," Yuugao gasped from within her pupil's arms.
Haruto snorted. "Senpai, with respect, please shut up! I'm not leaving you!"
Yuugao wanted to scream and yell at the foolish boy. She wanted to argue that he should not throw away his life so carelessly but found that her words came out muffled. He had crushed her body tightly against his chest. Cold, sweaty, wet and in pain, Yuugao could not help but think that Haruto's warm body felt heavenly. She failed to repress a contented sigh and only hoped that he was too distracted to notice.
Shockwaves from the enemy's ninjutsu rocked the ground and steadily crept closer with each passing tremble. Haruto almost lost his footing a few times, but he persevered with dogged determination. And because he persevered, Yuugao did not lose hope, even as the enemy closed the noose around them with a potentially fatal flank attack.
"Katon: Karyuu Endan!"
"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"
Curiously, the attacks did not come from behind or the sides. Furthermore, the attacks were so off target that neither fleeing ninja bothered to dodge.
Warning shot.
"Halt in the name of the Sandaime Hokage!" The band of Konoha ninja moved to intercept when a voice stopped them.
Haruto eyes lit up in recognition. "Captain! Rain hunter team closing fast!"
The others looked confused at the stranger's declaration, but not the veteran ANBU captain. As senior ninja on scene, Tenzou instantly took command and deployed his mixed force to engage the incoming enemy. An exhausted Haruto barely managed to pull Yuugao and himself to one side.
The Konoha genius could do little but watch as others fought. Fortunately, this was one battle that he could afford to miss. The brazen and desperate attacks from the Rain pursuers had attracted the attention of several patrol groups, elements of Tenzou's ANBU team and even a Genin team returning from a mission.
Outnumbered and deep in enemy territory, the Rain hunters quickly lost the initiative and the pursuers became the pursued. The arrival of additional Konoha reinforcements worsened their tactical situation. So rather than risking complete encirclement and defeat, the humiliated Rain ninja turned tail and disappeared back into the forest.
Only when an ANBU sweeper declared the area clear of hostiles did Haruto finally allow his tired eyes to close. Sleep, here I come.
"Captain! They are ours and are suffering from physical and chakra exhaustion!"
Haruto never even heard the flurry of voices and activities as he fell into a deep sleep. It had been a long mission and he, of all people, deserved it.