Life in Konoha's ANBU by Shezza

Chapter 8: Chains of Hatred IV: Counterattack!

Chains of Hatred IV: Counterattack!

The six members of Team Sigma were exhausted.

Their morning had been chaotic.

The afternoon promised to be no better.

At the moment, many of Team Sigma dozed quietly on the backs of man-sized primates. They darted through the trees with just as much proficiency as the ANBU towards their destination. Naruto absentmindedly used his chakra to stick to the warm furry surface of his summon, his eyes closed and his breathing relaxed. The wind rushed past him, ruffling his hair and flapping his cloak, while Naruto and the rest of his Squad took the precious few moments they could to rest and recover. Long shifts and resting where you can were second nature to his ANBU Team, while Naruto had spent many unpleasant nights by the Hokage's side as the old man defied his age and went about his business without a wink of sleep for days on end. Whenever it seemed like he would doze off without permission, Sarutobi whacked him or dumped water over his face. At the time, Naruto had just thought the old man was being his usual sadistic and horrible self. Now, as he put his experience to use, Naruto looked underneath the underneath and appreciated his hellish training even more.

The summons took them a fair way of the distance but even they too started to tire. As they approached their destination, Team Sigma stopped and Naruto thanked the summons gratefully. A little more rested, Naruto led Team Sigma to the coordinates they had received from the enemy officer on foot.

They closer they were, the more apparent it was that there had been an enemy presence in the area. Entire swathes of the forest had been swept aside and black oily smoke rose into the air. Some parts were still alight, the giant trees of Fire Country burning brightly as fire roared through them. There was no sense of reason or logic that Naruto could deduce from the pattern of the burns- it seemed random and chaotic, acts of vandalism and destruction rather than any important strategic goal. There were several villages in the area, small and unimportant towns with populations no greater than a thousand. They made their living off of the forest, harvesting wood and sending it further south via river to Fire Country's trade cities along the Tea-Fire border.

The first village they came across had been utterly destroyed. Small fires were still burning over the large blocky stone buildings. Naruto's fingers darted in ANBU code and with a streak of movement all six of them secured the destroyed village. Naruto stood in the centre of it, his mask hiding his turbulent emotions, as he stared at the large pile of charred and burning corpses in the middle of the town. The smell was acrid and foul and it bought tears to his eyes- at least, that's what Naruto told himself as he walked around the pile quietly, looking at the husks of men, women and children. The village had depended on Konoha for protection and the Leaf had failed them.

The small Chunin Team that had been deployed there- probably for general policing duties- hadn't managed to put up much a fight and the dozen Shinobi had been killed. Their corpse had been torn apart and desecrated, used as target practise and spat on. Naruto could smell urine from one of them and his blood boiled with anger.

"Ferret," Towa muttered but there was a questioning tone to it.

He was trembling, Naruto suddenly realised, and stared down at his hand in abject fascination. His fingers were shaking and he forced them into a first, squeezing them tight. It wasn't fear that swept through his body but a sudden and savage fire of hatred. He wanted to find who did this and he wanted to kill them- slowly and painfully, tearing them piece from piece.

The rest of his team was looking at him now and Naruto closed his eyes. He breathed in deeply, ignoring the smell and bottling his hatred, and he released it on the exhale.