Genji's intuitive concern for his captain and his genin friends proved well founded. Tenzou's pursuit team was drawn into engagements against unexpected hostiles. His personal combat skills, great as they were, weren't enough to offset his subordinates' inexperience. After one particularly chaotic encounter, Ino and Sakura found themselves separated from their friends and classmates. Fortunately for the duo, they weren't alone.
"How's the wrist now, Sakura-chan?" the third girl asked cheerfully as she finished wrapping her patient's limb.
"It feels much better. Thanks, Saku-san," the pink-haired girl answered with a weak smile. It turned out that the medic-nin from earlier was named Sakura as well. What were the chances of that?
It is said that battlefield conditions forged intimate bonds between soldiers. Certainly, this was the case with Saku and the kunoichi of Team 7, despite the short time they had known each other. Their similar interests and shared goals—being capable medics much like Tsunade or Rin—and at least for Sakura, their common name, also helped them connect.
"Let's get moving then. Based on the signs of battle in this area, I think we're on the right track. Be sure to keep an eye on hostiles," Saku advised. Sakura and Ino nodded seriously at the words of caution, but it mattered little in the final reckoning. The three of them were genin-ranked kunoichi with no particular talent for tracking and detection. Regardless of what they did, a moderately competent enemy jounin or chuunin could easily slip under their guard.
Sometime later, the above scenario occurred while Saku was scouting ahead and more seriously, the enemy proved to be more than just moderately competent.
"That was really pathetic," the redheaded foreigner crowed as she towered over her defeated opponent. Even though she was years older than her adversary, the Konoha kunoichi was horribly outclassed and easily subdued. But she refused to stay down and tried to use her trump card, a special Konoha medical technique perfected by Tsunade. Her enemy, however, was simply too well trained and easily parried the strike.
"Chakra scalpels?" the red-haired enemy asked, seemingly unconcerned that her opponent just narrowly missed puncturing a couple of her vital organs. "Why the fuck is a Konoha medic running around alone out here?" It was more of a rhetorical question than an actual one and the foreign kunoichi had a few good guesses.
"Get away from her!" One moment the blonde girl was charging at the redhead, the next, she was flying back in the other direction courtesy of a crushing roundhouse kick.
"I didn't know Konoha was so desperate as to send little girls," the Iwa nin taunted. She ducked under and around the strikes of yet another Konoha youth, this time a pink-haired tomboy. The redhead aimed for her bandaged wrist and neatly shattered the poor girl's radius and ulna. As the Konoha kunoichi howled in pain and stumbled stupidly like a drunk, the Iwa nin collected power and momentum into a punch that broke several ribs and sent her flying away to join her friend.
"Stop it! Leave them alone!"
The foreign kunoichi openly sneered at the medic-nin's feeble attempts to injure her. Saku's attacks were pathetic, but she could hardly be blamed for trying. She must have seen the symbol of Konoha's bitterest foe, Iwa, engraved on the other ninja's forehead protector. Her desperate struggle was born out of knowledge of what fate awaited her and her friends. But ultimately, her superior enemy beat her. And with blondie and pinky watching helplessly from afar, the Iwa nin coldly and fatally stabbed her in the neck.
"Tayuya-sama!" a voice suddenly called out.
Tayuya turned to face the newcomer, pointedly ignoring the weak killing intents directed at her back. It was a profound statement of how unimportant and unthreatening she found the two Konoha kunoichi. But at the same time, it was indicative of her susceptibility to the deadly sin of pride.
"Where the fuck is the rest of the unit? What happened to squads three and four?" Tayuya vented at the newly arrived shinobi. Upon noticing her companion's distraction, she decided to deal with the cause.
"Doton: Yomi Numa!"
The Iwa nin watched, Tayuya with cool indifference and her ally with mild awe, as a swamp appeared underneath the Konoha girls and pulled their screaming forms into the dark abyss.
Tayuya turned to her subordinate and calmly commanded, "Tell the others to pick up the pace! We're behind schedule as is!" The other Iwa shinobi snapped off a quick salute and beat a hasty retreat.
The Iwa jounin looked at the swamp and shook her head. "Fuck, you girls had no business getting yourselves involved in ninja affairs," she offered as epitaph for her latest victims, unaware that her deceased lover had made the same exact assessment earlier. Then, she disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Minutes later, a battered blonde figure crawled into the open. The sight of Saku's prone, dead body filled her with an aching sorrow that was far more powerful than the physical pain she felt. The medic-nin had saved their life by distracting the enemy kunoichi while Ino performed a replacement technique.
"Sakura…" Gritting her teeth and steeling her resolve, Ino crawled to where her unconscious friend lay hidden. In spite of the terrible pain, the blonde was relieved when she felt her friend's pulse under her pale hand. At least Saku's death had not been in vain. With a wry smile, she collapsed on top of Sakura in dead exhaustion.
As Genji had hoped, the blanket communications blackout made coordination and operations extraordinarily difficult for the invaders. The expected enemy infiltration force was nowhere in sight when the young ANBU stumbled across the clearing where his captain and the Suna ninja were fighting. But the battle was going poorly for Tenzou, who was single-handedly facing three very capable shinobi. Gaara and Temari were clearly a step up from their late brother, who had been no slouch himself.
Genji was about to assist his beleaguered mentor in taking down the two Suna royalties when the enemy jounin sensei interceded.
"Your battle's with me, newcomer."
Not even bothering with pleasantries, the young Konoha ANBU immediately targeted the man, whom he recognized as Baki from the reports.
"Mikazuki no Mai!"
Genji unleashed his other sensei's prided A-rank technique, feeling rather confident of victory. The technique was, in essence, a clever combination of the Bunshin and Shunshin techniques adapted for use with the sword. As an attack that emphasized surprise and speed, it was deadly against those caught unprepared and far more cost effective than the standard power and force moves. Unfortunately for him, Baki was prepared. The Suna jounin absorbed the blow with his flak jacket with such practiced ease that it looked as if he understood the mechanics of the attack. But surely, that was impossible as only three people in Konoha could even perform it!
Unless… no way! The thought hit Genji like a sledgehammer.
"I see that someone even younger has mastered this technique. Konoha truly has some impressive ninja," the oblivious Baki noted.
The wind elemental mark on Hayate's body, the Suna jounin's familiarity with an obscure Konoha kenjutsu technique, and finally his careless statement all clicked together, confirming Genji's suspicions.
"It was you!" While he really could have cared less about Hayate, this man had hurt Yuugao-sensei and that was just unacceptable.
Baki had a split second to realize his mistake before the Konoha ANBU crashed into him in an angry maelstrom of slashes and kicks. To be sure, Genji was far too well trained to allow his emotions to compromise his combat prowess, but he drew additional strength from his rage, an act that left his enemy momentarily dazed and on the defensive. But Genji's anger ultimately affected his ability to control the overall battle. As he aggressively pushed Baki further away, he became more and more separated from Tenzou and the Suna siblings. This made it difficult if not impossible for him to intercede on his captain's behalf in the event of an emergency.
The "emergency" happened in the blink of an eye. By all rights, it shouldn't even have happened since the Konoha ANBU had all but won the fight. Genji had struck a critical blow that left Baki lying on the ground while Tenzou had successfully separated the two Suna siblings and applied the tailed beast suppressor on Gaara.
It should have ended then and there, but it didn't because of one mistaken assumption. For all of Jiraiya's vaunted spy reports, Genji's tactical brilliance and the Sandaime's wisdom, Tenzou was ordered to target the wrong genin. Whether it was testament to the efficacy of Suna's counterintelligence or the incompetence of Jiraiya's spy network, it ended up costing them dearly.
Tenzou and Genji realized too late that Temari had been the Suna jinchuuriki all along. They could only watch in disbelief as the one-tailed Shukaku took form. The ANBU captain attempted to engage the real demon container, but found himself frozen in place. Gaara, who was entirely unaffected by the anti-demon measures, had secretly snuck his sand to seize Tenzou's feet while he was distracted. This normally wouldn't have been a problem as the experienced jounin could have easily dislodged the restraints in seconds. In this case, however, those were seconds he didn't have.
Dark sickles of pure wind chakra, which circled around the unveiled tailed beast like swarms of locusts, suddenly shot toward the defenseless Konoha nin.
Standing too far away to be of any help, Genji could only watch with helpless horror as his mentor, confidant and one of his very few friends, disappeared under a hail of razor sharp wind blades.
"NO!" Not caring if his anguished, animalistic cry was heard for miles, the twelve-year-old allowed his rage to possess him. A sinister red glow covered his body as the Kyuubi's intoxicating chakra pulsed through him.
Baki rose, surprised but seemingly undaunted by his transformed enemy. Hoping to wrestle victory from the jaws of defeat, he charged up his chakra blade with the wind element. Genji swung his weapon, which, as expected, was smashed into pieces by the Suna jounin's chakra blade. Rather than falling back, however, the ANBU genius continued the angular rotation of his body and brought his chakra-covered arm into play.
Baki had a fraction of a second to register his surprise before he had an arm stuck through his chest. The mentally devolving Genji crudely tore his arm free, ignoring the bloody and gory mess he made of the deceased Suna nin.
That's for Yuugao!The siblings are next!
Without dallying, Genji lashed out with a series of S-rank firebombs. Gaara barely had enough time to create a sand barrier against the onslaught. Unlike normal fire attacks, the flames were modified to burn continuously, keeping the Suna boy pinned inside. And while the inferno failed to penetrate the barrier, it did a wonderful job of eating up all the oxygen in the air. The Konoha ninja watched with satisfaction as oxygen deprivation ultimately forced his enemy to drop his shield and confront the raging fire. The end result was a smoking Suna genin covered in soot.
Absolute defense, my ass! Genji thought contemptuously. The guy should have known that nothing was ever absolute in war.
And then there were just two.
Mano-a-mano. Jinchuuriki vs. jinchuuriki.
Genji licked his bloodied lip in lustful anticipation. But before he could surrender his remaining humanity to the beast within, a rasping voice and a trembling hand reached out to him.
"No… don't."
The young soldier stopped dead in his tracks.
"Sensei!" Genji immediately dispatched a group of clones to occupy the Shukaku while he dropped to his knees before Tenzou. The youth struggled to hold himself together as he beheld his mentor's savaged body. "I'll slaughter them all!" he declared.
"No! This… not you. Control it… not let… it control you. This… my last… order… to you." Tenzou's words were not what Haruto expected, but they had the desired effect. The captain made a good point but it wasn't only the potential loss of control that was dangerous. Up to now, Genji had drawn only a small portion of the Kyuubi's chakra. Given the massive tailed beast nearby, it was unlikely that anyone had noticed it. But if he allowed the beast's chakra to completely possess him, then the whole village would learn of his dark secret. In the end, wisdom prevailed and the young boy's passions receded, as did the Kyuubi's chakra. The dying ANBU captain nodded in appreciation.
"My sword… take it. Haruto… you'll go… far. Take care of… Hokage." With that, Tenzou succumbed to his wounds.
In times to come, Haruto would bitterly lament how he didn't properly say goodbye to the man who had influenced him during his formative years. But maybe the proper goodbye wasn't really necessary.
You bastard, Genji thought hatefully as he looked at the towering beast before him. Truly, the tailed beasts were horrifying creatures to behold. But were people like him, the jinchuuriki, any better? As painful and depressing as it was, maybe all those people who despised him and called him demon were onto something…
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"