Life in Konoha's ANBU by Shezza

Chapter 46: Operation HURRICANE: Part III

The small fishing village was completely deserted as Naruto led his team towards it. They arrived on the outskirts just as the sun was beginning to rise, and carefully made their way inside. The silence was deafening, broken only by the crash of the waves coming to shore and the gentle wind that brushed by their heads. It was a tense atmosphere, and Naruto kept his guard up and a steady grip on a kunai, surveying the pillaged town carefully.

Whatever had happened had occurred months ago. Most of the buildings had been razed, and only the blackened wooden remnants of frames continued to stand. A large wooden pier had once extended out towards the ocean, but it was shattered and in pieces. Several boats were overturned and in pieces on the beach, and hundreds of pieces of smaller debris had washed up onshore.

The worst part was the smell. Bodies had been left out to rot, and over two dozen heads had been severed and placed on spikes at the centre of the village. While time and nature had done much to decompose the corpses, an acrid and rotten smell still hung over the ruins, making Naruto wrinkle his nose behind his mask. Yet, it wasn't as bad as he remembered, and he absently wondered if he was getting used to it.

: Daichi, Sasuke, Yuuka – form defensive perimeter around the village : Naruto signed.

The three ANBU nodded, Sasuke a little slower and more hesitant than the others, and they disappeared in a flicker of movement. Naruto was glad to see the Uchiha go- the boy did not need to see more of this. One massacred clan compound was enough.

He signalled to Kage, Komachi and Towa. : Scatter and search for priority-target-one – lookout for enemy traps – signal if you find anything :

The team broke apart. Rat, their tracker and advisor, hung back, observing everything around him with an air of detachment and professionalism. The tall man came to stand next to Naruto, his white mask hiding anything he may have been feeling.

"Many of these bodies were killed in a single cut," Rat observed tonelessly. He bent down next to one of the desiccated corpses, gesturing at the rotten body. "A medium-sized blade, thin and angular- the weapon of a professional."

"ANBU?" Naruto asked quietly.

Rat nodded and stood up. "Most likely TIDE, Kirigakure's ANBU and the Mizukage's Sword. It is likely that they uncovered evidence of the town's involvement in the Underground Railroad and put it to the torch."

Naruto looked at the impaled heads. Any recognisable human feature had been eaten away by nature and the elements, and bleached-white bone peaked out from behind blackened, decaying flesh.

"A warning?" the blond asked.

Rat considered it. "Possibly," he conceded. "I will investigate the bodies and see if I can identify the target."

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement and Rat bowed his head before he left, bending down over a haphazardly stacked pile of corpses and leaning forward. Naruto turned away, observing the fallen buildings around him. The wind ruffled his black cloak and brittle wood and charcoal cracked under his feet as he walked through the ruins.

He wasn't quite sure what he was feeling. It was a muddled mix of different emotions, and it made his heart beat furiously. The chains rattled in his head, very softly, almost like it was whispering to him, but he ignored the manifestation of his power with practised ease.

Whatever had happened to the village, it had been quick. He spotted some signs of a resistance to the invading forces- evidence of several explosions, scattered debris, the broken hilt of a kunai, and several dozen shuriken embedded in one of the blackened poles. Somebody here had fought back, and the pattern of attack indicated a fighting retreat.