Book One- The Enemy

Chapter 22

3 years ago

Mission- The Recapturing of Bara (Rated M- gore, blood, death, Etc.)

The smell of blood reeked in his nose, there was so much that night. The bodies, some shinobi some civilian, littered the small village of Bara between sand and forest, hidden in hills between mountains, land that used to defy a dividing line between nations, linked together now in red.

Out of the fifty shinobi sent only thirteen from the Leaf remained, he had reinforcements but they seemed to have gotten delayed, with the Sand finally retreating when the air filled with their hatred made way to thicken with the smoke from the final strike, the paper bombs placed by the man who died last, he stopped it, the shock of his demise leaving both sides shaken.

He wasn't a shinobi from either of their sides by one of the people of the town, he stopped the mindless fight that had managed to make its way into the town from behind their walls, his plan failing miserably to keep the people safe when they came to recapture the village from their enemy.

He faintly heard the call for a withdraw, a woman's voice dominating over the silence, angry it seemed, kinda familiar he thought through the ache in his body. From his knees he rose falling against the cracked building, a home that was just too close to the blast, steadying on his hand heaving for a breath over the thick fog, head throbbing, shadows running fast through the paths of the village. He thought he'd died the moment he fell back from the blast, that's right he was near the man when it occurred, so was she. He could feel something wet on him and could only assume it was mud, maybe blood as there was no rain, the plan really didn't go well.

It was Shikamaru's first real battle, first taste of the war he'd been warned about for years, the one he was destined to be in the moment the betrayal occurred, he'd only been a commander for several months and he fought against the idea, but an order was an order, and he obeyed with the least lethal plan he could think of to keep as many alive as he could. He managed to keep the fighting outside of town, in the forest, until the Sand insisted on retreating inside to defend instead of attack, he would have withdrawn had he had the chance, but there wasn't an opening he could take before his shinobi followed into the trap. He failed to protect those around him, was all he could think of in his hazed mind, to sore to think right in the moment, some genius he was he scolded to himself.

More shouts rang in his ear, the words being jumbled into sounds he couldn't quite make out, his blurred gaze searched through the scene trying to find any familiarity in the chaos, setting his sights on what seemed to be something white. It stood out among the darkness, a fan, the moons splashed in dark water, in blood, splayed and dug into the ground behind it someone calling out into the distance, he was sure they were yelling, but his ears still rang.

The shadow turned, looking from one pathway in the town to another, and through the smoke he could make out something dark on their face, her face, and hiding hints of sandy blonde hair in it, blood. There was a moment where a certain clarity came to his eyes as he blinked, he knew who she was, her voice seeming to lessen the blurred sounds into something he could make out, finally.

"Retreat now damn it!" She called out, as a pair of shinobi passed her following her order, while she looked from one side of the pathway to another searching for something, someone "Kankuro!" the next call an almost worried plea, almost, and as if summoned he spotted a figure rushing to her side, paint smeared and lips turned into a bared frown, grabbing at her arm to tug her away, but Temari jerked her hand away from him, tensing as she looked past him still searching "Where are they?"

"It's not important right now, come on Temari we have to go before those reinforcements get here" he attempted to reason eyes searching through the smoke, looking around like she was.