章節 48: Chapter 48: Sour Times
Standing before Onoki and the Iwa army, he handed the scroll containing his comrades to Kiyo. He quickly clapped his hands, reverse summoning himself back the fox den.
Onoki was surprised to see this, actually. He only agreed to let him go because he planned to follow him and kill him anyway, so him vanishing in a puff of smoke wasn't part of his plan.
-
In the fox den, Kannin rode Kiyo as fast as she could go, his now torn grey cloak and dirty hair whipping wildly as they went.
"Kiyo...how long until we get there..."
"Another 5 minutes or so, Kannin."
"...Oh...that's, that's good" Kannin was so exhausted he could barely talk.
When they popped up in the Konoha hq, Jiraiya was worried when he saw only the little Uzumaki boy return.
"What happened-"
"Not now, Jiraiya! I need doctors now!"
A couple of medical-nin rushed over and asked what was wrong. When he summoned his comrades out of the scroll, Jiraiya shuddered when he saw their state. The medical ninja were shocked as well, and immediately began cauterizing Shin's shoulder and treating their wounds.
Kannin explained through huffs, "We were ambushed...they-they knew we were coming...didn't stand a chance..."
"Kannin," Jiraiya said, "sit down. You need to rest."
"No...I have to help..." As Kannin was responding, he fell over, Koseki clattering beside him.
From behind him, Jiraiya could see a bloody stain on the grey cloak the boy was wearing. It seems like the adrenaline had masked the pain of the injury until his body shut down because of it. The Toad Sage called another doctor over to treat him. His plan to blow up Kannabi Bridge had failed miserably, and a number of promising shinobi were close to losing their lives for it. Jiraiya sighed, and sat down with his head in his hands. He hadn't failed this badly in a very long time.
-
Two months later, the situation on the Iwa front hadn't changed much. Konoha used its natural affinity with forests to its advantage, and the enemy was locked in a standstill. In the Konoha headquarters, Jiraiya sat reading a scroll with the morning's intel. Across from him, a blue haired woman with one arm sat with her own scroll.
"How are you doing, Shin?"
She frowned a little as she responded, "Better than yesterday, but I'm still not used to the whole one-armed thing."
He gave a bitter smile, "A shinobi must accept their lot and work within it. Some of us are more blessed than others." She scoffed a little hearing the age old lecture. Jiraiya continued, "How about the kids?"
She looked up and said, "Warai had the worst of it. She's just got back to the field last week. Kannin's been beating himself up over the mission's failure. I'm not sure how much he's been sleeping, but he'll be alright."
"What about the Tetsu child?"
"Tetsu took it the best, actually. He woke up before Kannin did and jumped back into action. He's been a real rock for the men. Kannin, on the other hand, has gotten a little sloppy. It's worrying."
"It'll be fine, I'm sure. This is a war, it's tough on everyone."
Just then a runner burst through the tent flaps, panting and sweating profusely, and handed Shin a scroll. She quickly scanned it, when Jiraiya heard her shout, "Shit!" before handing the scroll to him. He quickly realized what garnered the reaction: The Third Kazekage had disappeared, and close to the border with Konoha at that. Hiruzen was ordering both fronts to send their reserves back to Konoha to prepare for a potential war with Sunagakure
"The last thing we need!" Shin shouted, "That old dotard thinning our lines even further! Is he trying to lose the war?!"
"Shin, calm down. This is a serious threat. It will be hard, but our reduced number is a wartime necessity. Like I said, shinobi play the hand they're dealt."
Just then, a falcon flew in with another scroll, which Jiraiya took and read through.
"Shin, you're not gonna like this, but you and your team got reassigned."
"What!?"
"Yeah," Jiraiya continued, "Hiruzen needs competent jonins and veterans to lead the force in Suna, and Tsunade still hasn't come back. So he's looking to you and the rest of Team 4 to be leaders there."
"Ughhh" Shin sighed, "I'll go get them."
She sent summons for Warai, Tetsu, and Kannin, and they quickly gathered in front of the reserves that were ordered to return to Konoha. Before her stood her kids, this time, much older than the first time they had convened. Kannin was wearing his now singed and ragged grey cloak over his navy blue body armor; his grey-white hair was restrained by the happuri forehead protector, but it left the deep bags beneath his greenish-blue eyes in full view. Warai stood before her a little weaker than usual, with standard chunin dress, combat undergarments and a flak-jacket, with her onyx hair tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes shone a deep red from her Sharingan. Tetsu also wore a flak-jacket over a ripped and torn navy bodysuit, and goggles above his forehead protector, restraining his now flowing brown hair.
She lingered on Kannin's appearance a little longer than the rest, having pity for him, and the effect Operation Explode going down in smoke had on him. She silently prayed that he would get his act together. She knew Kiyo was really the one supporting him these last few weeks, as the rest of the team were assigned to different sectors of the line. They hadn't been in the field together since the mission. She hoped the bad luck wouldn't follow them to Suna.
She turned to the rest of the Konoha-nin, and ordered the return home. They all set off as fast as they could, leaving their rations for those remaining at the Iwa front. A few days later, they arrived back at Konohagakure. It had only been maybe 4 months since they had left, but it, and they, had changed.
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