The kunoichi of Team 7 eventually found several of their fellow Konoha genin holed up behind some blown up concrete pillars.
"Ino, Sakura, I'm glad you're alright. You girls are so troublesome."
"Hey, Shika. Good to see you too," Ino responded, letting her friend's comment slide for once. After recent events, her childhood companion's predictable comment was sort of comforting. Besides, the young blonde knew the Nara boy was sincerely grateful for their safe arrival.
"Are the others here?" Sakura asked. Shikamaru gave her and his longtime friend an appraising look, undoubtedly taking note of the fact that neither girl has asked about Sasuke.
"Some of them," Shikamaru answered. "Gai's team came in before you guys. Some ANBU took away Team 8, but we're missing two people."
"Sasuke and Haruto," Sakura guessed. Like that was really unexpected. Trust those two to be in the thick of things during a fight. An awkward silence descended upon the genin until Ino noticed something.
"Shikamaru! You're bleeding!" she cried. And he wasn't the only one. Eager to make up for their less than stellar combat performance and to distract themselves, Ino and Sakura wasted no time in tending to the injuries of their comrades.
Other ninja gradually drifted into the area. Soon, the area had become an ad hoc rallying point and medical center. The kunoichi from earlier was also there and had quickly drafted the two rookies as her assistants.
"So you took my suggestion and did the deed," the medic-nin said towards Ino.
"What?" The comment took Ino by surprise. "How did you know?"
"Your face told me," the medic-nin answered with a small smile, which waned when she saw the younger girl frown. "Listen to me. You did a good thing and the right thing. You kept that girl from further suffering even though you didn't have to."
The medic's reassurance lifted Ino's spirit, though it probably didn't erase all of the latter's reservations.
"You two are doing great. In fact, have you considered joining the medical corps part-time or even full-time? We could always use more recruits," the medic suggested after completing a messy, but relatively simple operation. She sensed talent in the two twelve-year-olds and was very impressed by their professionalism and depth of technical knowledge. "I'm willing to write recommendations to my boss on your behalf."
The explicit offer stunned Sakura and Ino. This was exactly the sort of break they had been hoping to catch. Predictably, once their brains caught up to the words, they quickly forgot their momentary troubles and ecstatically thanked their nominator. However, the jovial moment didn't last long. The entire arena shook with the force of a megaton explosion as wind blades traveling at hurricane speeds slammed into everything. Fortunately for many Konoha ninja, walls of orange popped up just in time to shield those caught in the open.
Ino swore she saw flashes of yellow hair encased in a sea of orange, which meant only one thing in her mind. "Was that Haruto? And what the hell were those things?"
"Those were his shadow clones," Shikamaru explained. Before he had a chance to elaborate further, the imposing figure of an ANBU suddenly Shunshin'd into the area with a body tucked under his arms.
"Sasuke!" Sakura and Ino both cried out.
"He's fine," the man declared. Indeed, the Uchiha prodigy was all reared up to charge back into battle and seemed to take offense at being kept from the fight. His enthusiasm was commendable considering the thrashing he took from the Suna genin earlier.
"My name is Yamato. I'm an ANBU captain and the senior shinobi on scene." The ANBU commander appraised the genin ranked before him, noting with care how they interacted with one another. "A few minutes ago, several priority targets fled the arena. I'm requisitioning a few ninja to assist me in pursuing them. Where is Nara Shikamaru?"
Knowing that this couldn't end well for him, Shikamaru stepped forward with great reservation. "I'm here, sir."
"Several sources have indicated to me that you're something of a tactical genius. Under my authority, I'm giving you a temporary field promotion to chuunin. For the duration of this operation, you'll assume all the privileges and responsibilities of your new rank. I want you to gather up those genin that you feel are ready and prepare them for deployment in five minutes. I'll brief you on the specifics later. Now move!" Having barked out his orders, the ANBU captain disappeared to take care of other matters.
"So what are your orders, Shikamaru?" Ino asked, half with sarcasm and half with awe. Her lazy, supposedly good-for-nothing friend just received a promotion from an ANBU captain. Sure, it was a temporary commission, but making it permanent was a relatively simple matter… right? All he had to do was to perform admirably and keep himself and his team alive.
Shikamaru restrained his desire to smack his forehead. He really, really wished he hadn't woken up today. Given Haruto's conspicuous absence, he knew the blond was probably to blame. It couldn't have been a coincidence that his friend worked for an ANBU agent while he just happened to be singled out for a battlefield promotion.
Haruto, or rather Genji, did play a role in his teammate's predicament. It certainly wasn't out of line to drop the names of a few of his peers to his ANBU captain from time to time. Shikamaru's name just happened to top that short list. At the moment, however, the young ANBU had more pressing matters to worry about.
Before retreating from the field of battle, the Suna siblings and their sensei chose to pepper the entire arena with area effect attacks. Genji was compelled to utilize his special Haruto clone to defend his more vulnerable allies. While no Konoha lives were lost thanks to his shadow clone walls, his doppelganger didn't survive the assault intact and had to be quietly removed. "Uzumaki Haruto" was just going to have to sit this battle out.
"Genji, there you are!"
Genji turned to the half-panting and bloodied ANBU vice captain. "Senpai! I can't locate either the captain or the Hokage."
"I know," Yuugao uttered quickly. "The Suna team fled in the heat of battle. The captain drafted several genin teams to give pursuit. As for the Hokage, look above."
As the young ANBU looked in the direction the vice captain was pointing, his felt his heart sink into the dark pit of despair. Above the battle arena, Sarutobi was locked in mortal combat with Orochimaru, who had apparently disguised himself as the leader of Sunagakure.
"Don't go! You won't be able to do anything. The shield surrounding them is too strong to be broken," Yuugao cried out. When her words had no effect in arresting the young ANBU's movement, she pulled rank. "I'll make it an order if I have to, Genji!"
That did the trick. Genji stopped in his tracks and turned to face his sensei. "I'm sorry. I just lost it for a minute."
"I know. Trust me, I know. But the Hokage is doing his job, so let's do ours," Yuugao explained. It was clear from her tone that her lover's death still weighed heavily on her.
"Yes, ma'am," Genji acknowledged, forcing himself to focus on the matter at hand. There was a battle that needed to be fought and won. "What do we need to do?"
"We have taken the surface of the arena, but some of the survivors are holding out in the subterranean sections under the stands. They have blocked most of the exits," Yuugao elaborated.
The two ranking jounin watched as several explosions and clouds of debris signaled the withdrawal of an ANBU assault unit from one of the remaining openings. It looked like the enemy wasn't going to be dislodged so easily. Under other circumstances, a perimeter blockade would have been a possible solution, but Konoha ninja were desperately needed elsewhere. The remaining enemy personnel in the arena had to be neutralized fast.
"Got any ideas? I know you have been working on some plans with the captain and the Hokage," Yuugao asked, hoping for an alternative to a prolonged and costly all out assault.
"I might." Genji signaled a chuunin to retrieve a special container, which the shinobi did in record time. Too bad Yuugao's cat mask kept him from observing his teacher's facial expression when he opened the container. "It's a detonator, so I suggest you pull everybody back."
Yuugao gaped at her student for only a moment before ordering her people to back off. Once every Konoha shinobi was out of the potential blast radius, she gave Genji the nod and he pushed down the lever. The defenders watched in astonishment as a string of primary and secondary explosions sent thousands of tons of reinforced concrete crashing down on the hapless foreign shinobi seeking shelter beneath. When the dust cleared, half the arena lay in ruins and not a single enemy combatant remained standing.
Yuugao looked at Haruto.
"You knew all along. You knew the enemy would seek shelter down there and you planted explosives," she muttered with not a small touch of awe.
"Of course," Genji responded with a dash of cockiness. Too bad he had little time to savor his victory.
"Excuse me, but Hiashi-sama requests your presence."
Genji turned to see a stoic, pale-eyed Hyuuga standing at attention. Behind him were several non-ANBU chuunin and jounin who had linked up with him. The only genin present were the members of Team 8, who looked healthy if somewhat the worse for wear. The young ANBU was just glad that they were alive and hoped that the others were equally fortunate.
"Well, I guess I'd better go. Good luck and stay alive, vice captain," Genji bid Yuugao farewell and followed the Hyuuga away. The other shinobi gave him curious glances as he passed them, but quickly diverted their attention to Yuugao as she briefed them on the situation and their new assignments.
"Hiashi-sama. It's good to see you again. What's our status?"
The Hyuuga clan head offered Genji only a tiny nod of recognition before he gave a formal report of the situation. "We're tracking enemy movements and the radio jammers are active. With me are the senior officers of the first wave of reserve units."
Genji looked at the various ninja, which included several high profile clan heads. "Good. My name is Genji and I'm the Hokage's Special Representative. As both Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama are currently indisposed, I'll be working with Hiashi-sama to coordinate the efforts. I would appreciate your cooperation." It was not a request and his forceful words caused a few people unfamiliar with his reputation to raise their eyebrows.
Strictly speaking, the concept of training and utilizing "child soldiers" was neither foreign nor indigestible for a society like Konoha, although the term had acquired certain negative connotations ever since Itachi's betrayal. However, there were fundamental differences between a "child soldier" and a "child leader."
Fortunately, Genji came prepared. When he produced the Shodai's necklace, even the stoic Hyuuga leader failed to completely mask his expression of surprise. After all, the necklace was both a precious family heirloom and a symbol of the Hokage's office. Having it in his possession meant that the young ANBU had the complete confidence of the leader of Konoha. Hereafter, no one dared to question his authority.
Satisfied, Genji returned to the matter at hand. "Okay, so the battlefield is divided into grid-like squares. Each square represents a zone of operation and is the responsibility of an independent task group. Your objective is to disrupt and hinder the enemy advances coming from the north and northwest." Here, he drew everyone's attention to the gigantic map laid out before them. "We have intelligence that about three-quarters of the invasion force hail from Suna and Iwa, which are barren and featureless territories. The densely forested Area 44 is unfavorable terrain for these ninja. We laid the bulk of our mines, barriers and anti-personnel traps at ground level to funnel the enemy into ambush sites so consult your maps for more information."
"Harassment tactics, huh?" one jounin asked, in a seemingly laid-back manner. No one, however, mistook the man to be a two-bit shinobi, for he was Shikaku, the renowned strategist of the Nara clan.
"That's the basic idea," Genji answered with a hidden grin. "Once they have exhausted themselves and we have amassed enough reserve units, we'll roll over them, but until then, it's important to keep them pinned inside the Forest of Death. Radio jammers have been set up to ensure a communications blackout."
"Won't that affect our radio signals as well?" asked Tsume, who also happened to be present.
"Yes, but you've been given a list of times when the communications blackout will be lifted to allow you to contact command to give and receive updates. If it's an emergency, use runners," Genji explained without going into specifics. The issue of communications had involved long and tedious hours of deliberations between him, the Hokage and later Jiraiya. Haruto and the Hokage had been concerned about leaving the Konoha task groups cut off from each other and command for extended periods, but the strength of Jiraiya's intelligence reports won out in the end. The spymaster's reports strongly suggested that the invasion consisted of an ad hoc multinational force that had little if any joint training and lacked a unified command structure. Thus, the invaders were extremely susceptible to communications disruptions. It was an irresistible vulnerability that Genji was determined to exploit.
To compensate for the loss of communications, command was devolved to the task group leaders. Emphasis was placed on unit level cohesion, initiative and self-sufficiency. Consisting of at least a Hyuuga for their all-around vision, a secondary tracker, several ninjutsu specialists with different elemental affinities, and at least three melee heavyweights, the task groups were more diversified and multi-faceted than any contemporary platoon-sized unit. Their members were well armed and supplied with multiple emergency first aid kits and a ration of soldier pills.
"Keep your unit together and try not to wander too far from your operational zone. Fratricide is the last thing we need. Any questions?"
There were none.
"No? Then go and deploy your units. May the Will of Fire bring you swift victory over the enemy!" Genji exclaimed passionately. Following a thunderous acknowledgment, the task group leaders quickly departed.