Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Shinobi and The Miko ❯ Chapter 11: Contingencies ( Chapter 11 )

She was losing them. Already, a few of the Shinobi she was trying so desperately to sustain were losing heartbeats, breaths. Focus! She admonished herself. She had a new respect for Tsunade's strength, that she had been able to do this for so long. She was reminded of how far she had come since she first began healing, but also of how far she had yet to go. Unfortunately, she was learning in the worst possible way.

 

She continued to grasp at the fringes, forced to send chakra in erratic pulses rather than the constant stream she had been managing before. Her thoughts became unfocused, she tried to retrieve them from the stream of tormented emotions and agony of the injured, tried to remember who she was. My name is… Minamoto Kaguya. I was a miko of the Temple of the Water Goddess. I left, and now I'm… I'm in Konohagakure. Yes. I'm trying to help them because they've been attacked, but… She lost her hold on about ten Shinobi.

 

No! Okay, okay, just breathe, just…focus. I can do this. She breathed deeply, restoring some of her focus. Still, she was down to minutes, if not seconds. She felt herself slipping. Desperate, she took in all the energy she could muster, releasing it without conversion, allowing it to flow from the village's foundations to its people. The effect was a momentary rush, a surge of giddiness.

 

When it was over, however, she knew she had nothing left. Another five slipped from her reach. As she was beginning to despair, she felt an odd transformation of energy from outside the village. Something was coming. Naruto…

 

She was awake just long enough to feel the foreign life-force fill the dying, and then she retreated into blissful nothingness.

 

***

 

Naruto ran back to the village as fast as his legs could carry him, which was pretty quickly indeed. He hopped through tree branches, through the ruined gate, over piles of rubble and even the occasional body.

 

“Grandma Tsunade!? Grandma Tsunadeeee!?” He called. He arrived in front of the medic's tent she had put up as her center of operations. Inside, he found Sakura over the unconscious forms of Tsunade and Kaguya.

 

“Grandma Tsunade! Kaguya-chan!”

 

“Naruto! Keep your voice down!” Admonished Sakura, though she seemed to be having trouble following her own advice; she sounded panicked.

 

“What's going on?”

 

She shook her head slowly. “They tried to keep everyone alive. If it weren't for them we'd have lost a lot more, but…” She regarded them sadly. “Kaguya will wake up soon, I think, but Lady Tsunade, she…she's in a coma.” Sakura's voice cracked at the end of her last statement.

 

Naruto recoiled as if someone had slapped him, and sat down on the floor of the tent. “Oh, man…” He crossed his arms, looking up at the low roof. “What are we gonna do now?”

 

“I wish I knew.”

 

There was a soft groan from nearby, and the two turned towards it. Kaguya stirred, brought a hand to her too-pale face.

 

“Kaguya!” exclaimed Naruto. “Are you okay?”

 

Sakura frowned. “Of course she's not, you doofus!”

 

“I'm… where am I…?” Kaguya asked, slurring her words somewhat.

 

“The medic's tent,” answered Sakura promptly.

 

“Medic's… Oh no… Lady Tsunade…” she said weakly, trying to sit up.

 

“It's all right. She's here.”

 

“Hn. I'm so sorry. There were so many. I couldn't hold onto them…after Lady Tsunade collapsed.”

 

“Shh…” Sakura said soothingly. “It's not your fault. The two of you saved so many people.”

 

Kaguya seemed to relax a bit. “Good… thank you, Sakura.” She laid her head back on the floor.

 

“Although… the miko of your temple may just have been right after all. You do look like Hell.”

 

This produced a feeble laugh and a smile. “That's what happens when you fight demons.”

 

***

 

“Hey! You wanna grab those planks and bring `em over here?”

 

Kakashi nodded, hefting the bundle of wooden beams onto his shoulder. He and the others had arrived back in Konohagakure a few days past. None of them had been prepared for what they'd seen.

 

Since hearing the full story from Sakura and Naruto, he'd become increasingly worried by the day. Tsunade still hadn't returned to consciousness; some were talking of selecting a new Hokage to fill her place. Kakashi wasn't overly fond of the idea himself; the possibilities were few, and none of them seemed better than just waiting for Tsunade to recover. Indeed, they were all worse.

 

He used a kunai to cut the rope tying his bundle together, handing them up to the builder as they were requested. It seemed like everyone was out today, helping to rebuild the village. For some, it was a way to overcome grief; others had no choice; many livelihoods had been destroyed by the attack. The crew of Ichiraku was making free meals for anyone working, ninja like himself were helping with demolition and construction, others were out gathering materials.

 

It's odd, how tragedy can bring out the best in people… or the worst.

 

***

 

Shikamaru sighed. This was bad. That, of course, went without saying. The problem was, most people didn't know the worst of it. They saw the crumbled village and the dead bodies and mourned, and rightly so. The problem was, very few also saw what Shikamaru did. This was an opportunity of the best kind for the worst people. The Leaf Village was weakened; there would be a large number of people who wanted to take advantage of this. If the Akatsuki chose to press their advantage, they could probably wipe Konoha off the map. Still, that wasn't really their style. No, he decided, the real problems are gonna come from inside…

 

“Shikamaru-san.” He heard a voice from his left and looked up.

 

“Neji. What is it?”

 

“The meeting has started. Tell me: are they really going to choose another Hokage?”

 

Shikamaru sighed. “Probably.”

 

“Who do you think it will be?”

 

“Who knows? We might get lucky; I think my old man's planning on nominating Kakashi.”

 

“And if we're unlucky?”

 

“You'd better hope we're lucky.”

 

***

 

 

Kakashi was perched on the bridge rail, deep in thought.

 

“Yo. Any news?”

 

He looked sharply upward, startled.

 

“Whoa, easy there. I didn't know you did surprised.”

 

“Anko…”

 

“Yeah?” A more serious note crept into her voice; something was definitely wrong.

 

Kakashi hopped down from the rail, and looked straight at her. His expression had reverted back to the unreadable mask he usually wore, literal mask notwithstanding.

 

“Danzo was just named the Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure,” he stated bluntly.

 

This statement had the same impact on Anko as a blow to the stomach: she found herself without breath, completely unable to speak. At last, she found her voice.

 

“Danzo?! That creep? Whose brilliant idea was that?”

 

“His own, I imagine,” replied Kakashi casually.

 

“Of all the-” she stopped abruptly, an unwelcome thought blossoming in her mind. “Hang on, wasn't Danzo one of the people who voted to execute Sasuke?”

 

Kakashi nodded slowly. “I begin to understand why the Hokage sent us on that recon mission…”

 

“What does that have to do with anything?”

 

“He wouldn't be able to get away fast enough if he was injured, would he?”

 

“Hold on. You're saying that the Hokage knew the village would be attacked? And then sent us away when we could have helped?” The sarcasm dripped off her every word.

 

“No. I'm saying that she was aware of the possibility, and decided to be cautious,” he replied, not rising to the bait. “As Hokage, she has to consider all the possibilities. And the possibility of an attack was great. The possibility of her being injured or killed… was enough to take necessary precautions.”

 

Anko just shook her head. “This is why I don't do leadership. I never want to be making contingency plans for my own death.”

 

“Mmm.”

 

“So… what do we do? We can't let Sasuke die. He's a mopey little runt, but I kind of like him.” She shrugged.

 

He smiled inwardly at her feigned indifference. “I've told him to pack his things. We're making sure he gets out of here alive.”

 

“Yeah, and then when Danzo finds out, we'll be executed too,” she rolled her eyes.

 

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. “Not if he doesn't find out.”

 

She laughed wickedly. “Now you're speaking my language! But I always figured you for a bit more of the loyal type, Kakashi. What gives?”

 

“Oh, I'm behaving quite loyally,” he said cryptically.

 

“Oh yeah?”

 

“We swore loyalty to Tsunade herself, remember? It was her decision to accept Sasuke back into the village and put him on a squad with us. He has proven that he does not intend to betray us, so I am also remaining loyal to my fellow Konohagakure shinobi.”

 

She smiled, impressed. “Those are some nice… ah… loopholes you have there.”

 

He just shrugged. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

 

“Right. Well, while we're on this loyalty tangent, what about Kaguya?”

 

“What about her?”

 

“I don't think Danzo will be content to let her just work at the hospital. With abilities like that and a doormat personality to boot, she's either gonna get used or killed,” Anko observed dryly.

 

“Hmm.” Kakashi thought for a moment. “I guess we send her with him, then. She'll be able to detect any search parties before they reach them, so I guess it could work out.”

 

“All right. I'll find her.”

 

“Anko?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Do be careful.”