Konoha Children's Crusade Chapter 27 part 3

“Sasuke?” asked Naruto.

“Where do you think you’re going?” spat Kiba.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m leaving.” Sasuke answered. He kept walking with a slow confident swagger.

“I’m not so sure we can allow that,” said Shikamaru slowly.

Sasuke stopped next to the scabbard of his katana and bent to pick it up. He ignored the various combat stances that half of the shinobi slid into, and stuck the weapon back into his belt. “You won’t allow it?” he asked with wry arrogance. “Do you think that you can stop me?”

“Sasuke,” Naruto said quietly. “We swore we’d do whatever it took to stop Kabuto... remember?”

“I still intend to,” said Sasuke in a hoarse, bitter voice. “I’ll just have to do it alone.” He made a derisive snort.  “An Uchiha should know better than to depend on...”

The ground shuddered as sixteen shinobi clad in dark cloaks and wearing ANBU masks exploded from the soil. In almost perfect unison, four of them surrounded Sasuke and began a blindingly fast series of hand signs.  A sealing barrier sprang up around Sasuke. Twisting chains of blue chakra snaked out from the walls and locked him down. “Sasuke!” Naruto had enough time to cry out in surprise and anger before he was also similarly restrained.

The remaining eight ANBU took up defensive positions around the sealing teams, blocking out the Konoha 11 who were there. It all happened so fast that all Sakura could do was let her jaw drop open.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Neji glance down with his byakugan and stiffen. Akamaru whined and Shino’s bugs seemed to orbit him a little bit tighter. A second later she herself felt it, an ominous dark chakra that oozed through the air. It wasn’t the most  powerful she’d ever felt, but it was a dank concentrated evil. Every breath she took felt polluted and oily with it.

A seventeenth figure slowly emerged from the ground, phasing through it as if he were a ghost. He shook the edge of his cloak and a fine smattering of grit and small pebbles rattled on the road. His cloak snapped jauntily in the breeze. His back still to Sakura, he stepped forward and peered at the now trapped Sasuke.

“Excuse me,” Shikamaru said. “Not that I don’t appreciate the help in restraining Sasuke, but do you really think it’s necessary to chain up Naruto too?” The mystery shinobi continued to stare at the entrapping seals, occasionally brushing them with the tip of a finger, causing a small shower of sparks to fall. “Hey!” Shikamaru called a little louder. “I asked you a question! You might be ANBU but I’m in command here! Who are you anyway?”

After intently staring at the straining Uchiha for a minute, he straightened and faced Shikamaru. Sakura heard Ino gasp. The mask underneath his hood was bone white and featureless. Not even eyeholes marred it’s smooth surface.

The masked Shinobi took one solitary step forward. Shikamaru, Ino and Choji all shrank back. One hand slithered out from under his robe and tapped twice on his mask. He never spoke a word, but everyone understood its meaning. “I am an ANBU,” the gesture said. “You do not question me.” The robed figure turned back to Naruto and Sasuke, struggling behind their respective barriers.

Sakura had faced down Orochimaru. She had fought in the war against Madara Uchiha. She had seen Sasuke at his worst. None of their chakra’s compared to this blank faced man. Each of those aforementioned shinobi surpassed him in power... But... the sheer corruption of this man’s chakra...

If she were to make an analogy, Orochimaru would have been like a viper - All poison and speed and quick stinging death. This nameless, silent man was like a bacterium that got into a wound. First it would start to fester, then the rapidly reproducing bacteria would spread throughout the host’s body. Swimming about in a sea of blood and pus, the infection would spread into the veins, spreading toxins and inflammation in creeping red lines until it reached the heart... Not as dramatic or as impressive as the viper, but every bit as deadly. At least a viper bite would result in a clean death.

“What do we do now?” Choji hissed. “We can’t let him take Naruto like that... Can we?”

“ANBU always act on the orders from the Hokage,” muttered Shikamaru. “It would be just like Tsunade to want to teach Naruto a...”

There was short cloud of dust as Sai skidded to a stop on the road. “Hello,” he said in his unnaturally cheerful way. “I rushed over as soon as I received the order.” He smiled and leaned to one side to better examine the sealed Naruto and Sasuke. “I wish you had told me that you had already acquired your own sealing squads. I wouldn’t have needed to hurry.“ He looked about interestedly. “The four chained posts sealing jutsu!” Sai said with surprise. “I wasn’t aware that was known by anyone outside of...”

Sai’s voice slowly ground to a halt. As he was talking, the blank masked man slowly turned back around and faced him. Although there were no eyeholes in the mask. It was quite clear he was staring at Sai.

Sai’s already pale face turned positively ashen. His eyes grew twice as wide as the masked and hooded figure paced slowly towards him. Sai quivered as if he were trapped in some sort of waking nightmare. “How did you?...” he started to whimper. He flinched as the smooth masked man waved one gloved hand in a cutting gesture towards Sai.  “Please...” was he all he managed to say before his voice was cut off in a choking gasp. He clawed at his throat and started to turn red.

“Sai!” yelled Sakura. She caught him as he stumbled about, trying to suck in his next breath. He was obviously making all the classic signs of choking. But she was totally unclear how.

Sakura pulled him down to the road. “Just relax,” she said in her smooth professional voice. “I’ve got you Sai, everything will be okay.”

A quick medical scan revealed his trachea was clear of obstructions. There was no inflammation in his lungs, which ruled out an allergy. She found the cause in his mouth. He was choking on his tongue. It had swollen to about two and a half times its normal size, and still growing.

Sakura worked as fast as she could. She put one hand under his chin and started an anti-inflammatory pulse of chakra. With the other she pried his jaw open as far as it would go. There was a lot of resistance there, far more than there should have been . “An allergy? Maybe tetanus?” she wondered to herself as she boosted her fingers just enough to overcome the added pressure without going so far as to dislocate his jaw. Even so, she heard his mandible creak with the strain. Sakura swallowed nervously and jammed her fingers past Sai’s now purple lips, and down his throat.

Sai’s tongue throbbed and twitched. There were warm raised bars across its surface. She tried applying the anti-inflammatories to those spots directly. It seemed to slow the rate of the swelling, but didn’t make it go down by the tiniest bit. Thankfully she was still all kitted out with all the gear from the previous night’s attempt to find Naruto. Her hand had closed around her epinephrine syringe, and she was scouting for a likely injection site, when Neji’s voice boomed out, “Release your jutsu on him!”

Sakura looked up. The Hyuga jonin had launched himself at the Masked man, and was now battling three of the ANBU guards who had intercepted him. A fourth had gotten around behind Neji and into his blind spot. Poised for a sneak attack, this fourth guard began to form the hand signs for a fire style jutsu. He had brought his hand to his mouth to launch the jutsu, when Lee swept his legs out from underneath him, and made sure he stayed down with a falling axe kick. Lee rolled to his feet and sprinted to Neji’s side.

The remaining four ANBU guards who were watching Sasuke, looked at each other and took a step towards the fray. There was stinging gust of wind that made Sakura’s ears painfully pop with the pressure.

Tenten spun the bashosen in her hands and pulled it back over her shoulder. “Don’t even think about it,” she said to the guards in a warning voice.

The blank masked Shinobi pulled a kunai and charged right towards Sai and Sakura. Later, Sakura would wonder how such an unimpresively built person could be so agile, but right now, she tensed as he dove between Kiba and Akamaru’s tunneling fang, spun free from Shino’s cloud of insects, and dodged Choji’s huge fist.

As Choji’s fist swept by, the shadow underneath exploded into dark twisting tendrils.

The masked man was unbelievably nimble on his feet. He might have been able to avoid Shikamaru’s shadow sewing jutsu too, if Sakura hadn’t decided right then, to punch the ground. Hard.

There was a minor earthquake, and the pavement on the road shattered. The featureless masked man stumbled, and in that second, the shadows captured him.

“Well?” asked Shikamaru, once the tremors died down. ”Release the jutsu on Sai. Then we’ll see if you want to talk.”

“Shikamaru,” Sakura called warningly, trying to force down her teammate's tongue with brute force. “Sai’s getting worse!”

“Release him I said!” yelled Shikamaru. The masked Shinobi just stood there impassively.

“Tamago,” called a relaxed, rich, baritone voice from out of the very air. “Enough games. You have done admirably... but now, I believe the situation would benefit from my presence.”

The blank masked shinobi nodded, and made a simple hand sign. Sai sucked in a huge lungful of air. Shikamaru released him as the color returned to Sai’s face. The mystery shinobi then made a much more complex string of signs. The earth shook again and split open. This time, a long stone staircase descended into the darkness. Sakura could hear the footsteps as someone slowly climbed.

An older shinobi, perhaps in his early forties, ascended into the daylight.  “Nicely done,” he said in an exceptionally cultured voice. “This situation seems to be well in hand. I really must hand it to you.” He turned and made a short bow to Shikamaru, and swept his arm to indicate the whole group of the Konoha 11. “And you youngsters as well. I must thank you for being bold enough to stand up to such a dangerous man.” He gave them the pleased look a man would give a dog when it learned a new trick, and stroked his pencil thin mustache.

Shikamaru and Choji looked at each other. “Um... Thanks? But isn’t he like, your guy?” Choji asked, a little confused. He pointed at the masked shinobi.

The man ignored him. “You delayed the Uchiha long enough for my sealing teams to get into position. I shall make sure to give you all a little something as a reward.” The mustachioed man turned back to the ANBU. “Remember gentlemen,” he called out, “make sure you avoid the Uchiha’s gaze. Even weakened, he can still cast a genjutsu with his eyes.” The four members of Sasuke’s sealing team started to walk very slowly, the chakra chains dragging him along inside the barrier.

Shikamaru tilted his head slightly. “No offense sir, but this is my operation. I am in command of the prisoners.”

The man acted like her didn’t hear. “Make sure you take the jinchuriki as well. We can’t allow the valuable assets of the village to go rogue like that,” he snorted. “Imagine letting the boy run around like that however he pleases. I don’t know what the Fifth Hokage was thinking.”

“Halt!” barked Shikamaru, taking a step forward. “I’m not letting either Naruto Uzumaki or Sasuke Uchiha out of my sight without finding out who I’m releasing them to.” The smooth masked ANBU took an ominous step forward.

The well coiffed man waved a hand lazily. “Oh do calm down Tamago. I’m sure the Nara boy is bluffing. He would not dare to harm me.” He turned and looked contemptuously at Shikamaru. “Keep going men, just make sure to take special care with Uzumaki. Things could get difficult if we arouse the monster inside of him.”

Sakura saw Shikamaru frown. His  ‘what a drag’ expression  flashed across his face once, then he started barking orders. “Squads three eight and ten, target the shinobi maintaining the sealing jutsu. Nothing lethal, just enough to distract them, or better yet knock them unconscious.”

There was a sharp moment of tension as Shikamaru and the new gentleman eyed each other. “Well, I never would have expected a Nara to be so impetuous. Especially the noteworthy Shikamaru. What happened to your legendary caution?” A faint smile crossed the man’s lips. “Hurry up and speak my dear boy, insubordination doesn’t become you.”

“I am not releasing anyone into your custody without seeing an order from the Hokage,” said Shikamaru gruffly with one hand outstretched. “And you still haven’t told me who you are.”

The man gave him a wry smile. “I am the person incharge of this particular ANBU team. I believe that is all you need to know... and as I am here in an official capacity, I believe that I outrank you. Please fall back and let me take care of the prisoners.”

Shikamaru glanced back to where Sakura was holding Sai up in a seated position. “Your lieutenant there,” he said nodding at the masked man. “He attacked Sai without any warning... Why?”

The man gave a brittle smile and shrugged. “Perhaps they have some past history... perhaps it was over a private matter. It’s unfortunate that poor Tamago is mute, otherwise I’m sure he would tell us.” He pulled at the thin mustache on his lip. “Have you asked your friend there if he would be so good as to help us determine the reason?”

Sai shot the man a look of pure venom before looking away. “It was nothing. A small private argument that Tamago and I had in the past.” With one finger he started scratching furiously on the dusty road.

“So who is he?” asked Shikamaru pointedly.

“I cannot say.” Sai was sketching out a crude picture of a tree.

“Really?” asked Shikamaru suspiciously.

“I cannot say,” said Sai flatly. He drew a line for the ground and roughly sketched in a system of roots burrowing through the earth. Then he hurriedly circled them.

“I see,”  said Shikamaru tersely. “That makes this an entirely different story. Please accept my sincerest apologies. Why don’t we accompany you as an honor guard so we can at least be there with you when you present the prisoners to the Hokage.”

The cultured man gave a chill smile. “Your offer is noted... but completely unnecessary.”

Shikamaru smiled back. “Oh... but I insist.” Sakura was slightly confused, until Sai tugged gently on her arm and tapped the drawing of his tree again. No.. he tapped the roots on his tree picture.

These shinobi were part of Root.

A long time ago, during the earliest term of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi had selected his old friend and rival Danzo Shimura to be the commander of the ANBU. He and Danzo ended up clashing so many times, over policy, over training methods, finally even over the very philosophy of what a shinobi should be. Rumors sprang up of harsh indoctrination techniques, tests of loyalty, and brainwashing. People said Danzo was carrying out his own operations in a secret black war against other villages. Finally, there were the stories that the ‘accidental’ deaths that happened to new recruits during training weren’t really accidental. A short time after the Uchiha clan massacre, Hiruzen Sarutobi removed Danzo from the post and appointed a new ANBU commander. He also decided that the ANBU of the Hidden Leaf village had too much power and influence, and increased the jurisdiction of the Konoha Jonin Corps as a result.

But Danzo still remained a force to be reckoned with in the Hidden Leaf Village. There were many elders in the village who disagreed with the Third Hokage’s world view and wanted him to take a more hard line approach. The Shimura clan was wealthy and powerful and Danzo ended up the de facto leader of this group.

He also had a second advantage. There were a moderate number of ANBU who remained loyal to him even after he was removed from his post. This group privately cursed the perceived short sightedness of the Third Hokage and continued Danzo’s methods of recruitment and training. They called themselves ‘Root’. Always hidden, always in darkness, but the only thing that kept the Leaf village from falling down.

Sai used to be a member of Root. They recruited out of the pool of orphans and foundlings that floated around the edges of the Leaf village. The new recruits were trained in pairs. Whatever the indoctrination and training entailed, it crippled Sai emotionally. The only part he had ever told Sakura about was the graduation exam. “There is no room for the meek in Root,” he was told. “We only need the strong.” Sai and his teammate, his ‘brother’,  were then forced to fight... to the death.

“If you delay us any further, I will be forced to take disciplinary action against you, Shikamaru Nara!” said the well coiffed man. His smile was friendly, cheerful even... but his eyes glowered with rage.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” asked Shikamaru., moving forward and grinning like a cat that has cornered a mouse.  “You’ve already got Sasuke trapped... There’s no reason to be in a rush...Unless you Root guys are worried about the real ANBU showing up.” The rest of the Konoha 11 took his cue and shifted around the Root ANBU, blocking their escape routes.

To their surprise, the mustached man  laughed. “‘Real’ ANBU? I am the real ANBU. I am commander Eiji Shimura.”

Neji frowned. “The commander of the ANBU corps is Jirou Inuzuka.”

Eiji smiled. “No... the commander of the Hokage’s ANBU corps is Jirou Inuzuka. I’m surprised that a young man like you would be privy to sensitive information like that.” Shikamaru bristled under the man’s patronizing grin. “I am the commander of the Council’s ANBU corps.”

“The council doesn’t have an ANBU corps! The ANBU receive their orders directly from the Hokage. Stop treating us like we’re genin straight from the academy,” snapped Shikamaru. “I am ordering you to release both Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha right now!” He raised one hand. “Failure to do so will be considered an act of aggression under Article 27 Paragraph 3 of the Hidden Leaf’s council accords. Let them go, Shimura-san or we will take steps.”

The remaining Root shinobi coalesced around Eiji Shimura. He glanced at the Konoha 11 that were surrounding him, taking an especially long time to study Shikamaru.

Shikamaru glared back. “It will be a bit of a drag,” the Nara jonin said to his friends, “because we’re outnumbered, but try to target the Root shinobi sealing Naruto. Once he’s free, I’ll bet they won’t have the advantage in numbers for very long.”

“I do not think we will even need Naruto to deal with these people. I bet that Team Three could deal with them all by our lonesome,” said Lee eagerly, settling into a ready fighting pose.

To everyone’s surprise, Eiji laughed. “Save your energy. You will need it when the council hauls you all in for your court martials.” He smiled at Shikamaru in a magnanimous way. “As for you young Nara... May I recommend that before you go about quoting the council accords, you make sure to read them all... very carefully... I would advise you to look at the amendment the Sixth Hokage signed to Article 43.”

“There isn’t a Sixth Hokage,” growled Kiba.

Eiji waved to his men. “Release the prisoners,” he said in an amused voice.  He turned quickly and nodded to Shikamaru. “I’m sure their capture will be the last glory they have for a long, long time.”

The sealing jutsu restraining Naruto and Sasuke ended. The chains fell away allowing the both of them to collapse on the ground. “Take good care of the Uchiha now. I will have many things I need to discuss with him, when he is returned to my custody. ” Eiji proudly strode down the steps with the rest of his men. The earth slowly closed over them.

“Naruto!” Sakura called, running over to check on him. “Are you okay?”

He looked a little more dazed than usual, but he still had the strength to push himself up. “Ouch,” he groaned. “It felt like being chewed on by a thousand electric ants.” He held up his wrists which were red, blistered and raw. “Those stupid chains suck the chakra right out through your pores.”

Sakura sank down next to him. “Here,” she said holding out her hands, “let me heal them.”

Naruto pulled his arms away. “I’ll be fine. Go check on Sasuke. He used up a lot of his chakra when he... he used up a lot more chakra than I did.”

Sakura glanced over at Sasuke.  Aside from the slow rise and fall of his chest, he lay motionless in the street. She had the sudden flash of that time in the Land of the Waves when he had taken a fusillade of Haku’s needles. He had done what he could to protect Naruto, a boy he could barely tolerate, and in the next moment he was limp and bloodied on the deck of the unfinished bridge.

All her life she had seen him, full of a barely leashed brooding energy. But now... he looked so peaceful lying there. She felt that same twinge in her chest, the sudden sharp pang of wanting to hold him and protect him. But the more she felt the probing eyes of her friends and fellow shinobi staring at her,  the more she shook it off. “Naruto, I’m not sure that...”

Naruto read the hesitation in her eyes.“He’s been lost Sakura. He’s been lost on a path of hatred and revenge for so long, But I promise you that he’s trying to find his way back. Sasuke needs all the help he can get to find his way home.” Naruto gave her a small nudge. “Go on... help him out. It would mean a lot to him if you did.”

Sakura chewed on her bottom lip. She heard her inner voice urging her forward. “It would only be a medical scan,” she told herself. “It is my job after all. It isn’t like there’s anything improper about it.” She was climbing up to one knee as Shikamaru appeared beside her.

“Actually... I think it would be best if we just left Sasuke the way he was for a while.” Shikamaru fumbled with one of his pockets for a second, looking for a non-existent pack of cigarettes, before pulling his hand away. “It’ll be easier to transport him if he’s out cold.”

“What?” Naruto snapped.

Shikamaru sighed. “Look Naruto... he was just about to walk away. We can’t allow that. He’s the number one threat to the safety of Konoha right now, there’s still a warrant out for his capture.” He looked around at his fellow shinobi and shrugged. “It’s our duty to bring him in.” He gave Naruto an uncomfortable glance. “Sorry Naruto, but that’s just how things are.” Shikamaru turned. “Ino? Do you think you could try to give him that mind scan now?”

Ino nodded and walked forward, hands outstretched. “I’m willing to try, Sakura could you...”

“No,” said Naruto, stepping in between them. “I’m not going to let you.”

“Naruto,” said Shikamaru, trying to be reasonable. “You don’t know you can trust him.”

“I do,” insisted Naruto. “He has his reasons for not wanting anyone in his head. He’s different now... He’s better.” He turned in a circle looking at the hard faces of his friends. “I trust him!”

“Fine. You trust him. What about the rest of us? What are we supposed to trust?” Shikamaru threw up his hands in exasperation. “You were there during the Fourth war. You saw what he did. He’s a monster! You heard what he swore! He is too big a menace to let him wander around  free! I’m sorry... If you’re not going to let us verify that he’s safe... We’re going to have to put him somewhere where we can be sure he won’t hurt anyone.”

Naruto looked around at the stares the other Konoha 11 were giving to him. When he finally looked at Sakura, she turned away. “Fine,” he said getting to his feet. “If Sasuke is going to end up in a cage, then I guess I...” He bent over and grunting, picked up Sasuke in his arms, “will just have to go along too.” He started walking towards the gate.

“Naruto, wait,” called Shikamaru.

“After all,” continued Naruto, ignoring him, “If Sasuke is too dangerous to let run free then I must be as well. It just stands to reason. You know how those monsters are... I don’t see anyone asking me to submit to some mind scan... I could be hiding dangerous secrets or thinking nasty thoughts too.” He angrily marched through the gate, past the staring crowd. There was a smattering of applause that swelled to a dull roar.  People were cheering the hero of the Leaf.

Sakura heard Kiba mutter. “I wonder what all these nice folks would say if they knew their hero was marching off to jail?”