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The Fox's Brush.	By : spookymuffin Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1114 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 8
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Yamato led his team down the incline and through what remained of the forest until they arrived at the edge of the village below. He resisted his first urge to take to the rooftops, the buildings were much too short and widely spaced for them to travel that way discretely and he knew that they would be nothing more than moving targets up there. Instead, they crept silently amongst the cover of the dilapidated structures, Naruto and Sakura a few feet behind him, their eyes and ears tuned to any small movement or sound that might signal an enemy attack.
It wasn’t long before he realised that there was a kind of ordered chaos to the rubble and ruin that surrounded them; paths were strategically blocked off so that all traffic was funnelled toward the tall building in the centre of the village. It made sense, Yamato thought to himself, it was set up so their enemies would always know what direction an attack would come from and it also meant that there were probably only two or three viable ways to reach the Root base on foot.
They turned a corner and Yamato froze mid step.
“Yamato-taichou...!” Sakura’s voice was little more than a panicked hiss from behind him and he knew that she had seen it too.
“I see it.” he whispered back, as he carefully withdrew his outstretched leg. His eyes followed the length of wire that he had come very close to stepping on. It was stretched across the street at ankle height and almost invisible, the dull grey of the metal blending in with the pavement beneath it, but it still caught enough of the afternoon sun to glint in a way that cement never would.
His sharp eyes picked out at least twenty more tripwires in their path; strung across the street at various heights and he knew that there were probably more, hidden in the shadows of the ones that he could see. It was going to be difficult to pick their way through the traps, especially since they had Naruto (who was not the epitome of grace and balance) with them, but it wasn’t all bad. Yamato knew that the presence of such a large amount of traps here heavily implied that their enemies didn’t have the manpower to physically watch every route to their base.
Their chances of reaching their goal undetected had just gone up... but that was only if they could get to the end of the street without tripping any of those wires.
**
Kakashi sat, silent and motionless in a broken window on the second storey of what he assumed used to be a shop. Facing outward and holding his breath he listened carefully to the almost inaudible sound of footsteps moving back and forth on the roof above him; he knew that he couldn’t afford to be hasty and risk them sounding the alarm before he incapacitated them so he waited patiently for them to get close enough.
Minutes ticked by until he eventually heard the tap of feet on the tiles directly above him, the movement sent a few pebbles skittering over the edge and Kakashi watched as they fell through the air (almost in slow motion when viewed with his sharingan) and plummeted to the ground below; he knew that he had to make his move.
He pushed off from the windowsill and caught the edge of the roof with one hand, swinging upwards effortlessly and turning in the air so he was looking down on his target.
To their credit the ANBU that he surprised reacted quickly, hands flying through seals with almost no hesitation, and if Kakashi had needed to form seals of his own he probably wouldn’t have been able to stop them in time. Fortunately, the ANBU was nowhere near prepared to deal with the sharingan (or its special brand of genjutsu) and met his gaze directly; their body had already begun to go limp before Kakashi had even landed on the roof beside them.
Kakashi reached out and caught them as they slumped forward, more to avoid them falling loudly to the ground than out of any real concern for their welfare. He hoisted them onto his shoulder and dropped back down to his earlier perch on the window ledge, stepping into the murk of the abandoned building; feeling much too exposed up on the roof. He removed their mask and was surprised when he recognised the man underneath as a Nara. He didn’t know the man by name but he had seen enough of him to know that he was held in high regard within his clan.
Sai had mentioned that Danzou had had a Yamanaka and an Aburame working under him but Kakashi had assumed that they were isolated cases of treason. The old clans of Konoha were close knit by nature and it made him wonder just how deeply this operation ran.
He shook his head to clear his mind; he would have plenty of time to dwell on the details when the mission was complete.
**
Naruto stood with Sakura while Yamato made his way through the first set of wires. The traps didn’t seem to give him any trouble; he moved so quickly and easily that it almost looked like he had learned off their locations beforehand. When he reached a clear patch of ground he turned and beckoned for Sakura to follow. While she didn’t move with the same confidence as their captain Sakura still managed to make ducking under and stepping over the spider web of metal wires look easy. Naruto watched as she reached Yamato’s side without even breaking a sweat; he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little envious of their natural grace.
Naruto frowned at the wires that separated him from the rest of his team; twelve feet had never seemed so far away...
They were both staring at him now and Naruto couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at how nervous they looked (although Yamato concealed it better than Sakura), they obviously expected him to make some stupid mistake and get them caught.
The determination to prove them wrong was enough to spur him into action, he reached up and straightened his forehead protector and flashed them his best grin (although that seemed to make Sakura look more nervous rather than do anything to reassure her) before lifting one foot and stepping carefully over the first pair of wires.
**
Kakashi hopped from window ledge to window ledge, the unconscious body over his shoulder bouncing bonelessly with each leap, until he reached the highest point that he dared to risk. He closed his right eye and scanned the area with his sharingan; the only chakra signatures that jumped out at him were Sai’s (a few streets over to his left) and the dull glow of the rest of his team on the other side of the village.
There were only supposed to be ten of them in the base (if the information he had gleaned from the Root girl was accurate) so it made sense that there would only be one or two sentries.
Kakashi headed in Sai’s direction and eventually found him behind the crumbled shell of a building, crouching over the body of an obviously dead ANBU and wiping the blood off his tanto using their cloak.
“I need you to bind this one for me” Kakashi said softly as he landed beside Sai and dropped the Nara man onto the ground.
Sai nodded and reached into his pack to retrieve a scroll. As Sai’s snakes came to life and began slithering across the ground toward their target Kakashi let his gaze drift to the ANBU that lay in the dirt a few feet away, there was a clean cut across their throat and Kakashi could see the grisly flash of bone deep in the wound. It had been an efficient (and likely painless) execution.
The porcelain tiger mask was familiar and, curiosity getting the better of him, he went down on one knee beside the body; reaching out to remove the mask. Long dark hair partially obscured the woman’s too pale face and he brushed her fringe away from her forehead, revealing the curse mark there. It was with a kind of sad resignation that he realised that this was one that he did know by name.
Her name was Hyuuga Setsuka, and he had been pretty close with her squad back in his ANBU days, working with them on several missions and spending many late nights smothering their demons with alcohol... and even though his recollection was a little hazy, he knew that he had drunkenly fallen into bed with her at least once.
He wasn’t really surprised to see her here, she had always been very vocal in her opposition to the main/branch family system that her clan favoured and Kakashi could quite easily imagine Danzou promising to bring an end to it when he became Hokage... regardless of whether he intended to keep his word or not.
Without thinking, he slid his hand down her face and closed her half-lidded eyes; he was suddenly very aware of Sai watching him.
“Kakashi-sensei?” Sai asked and his tone was more curious than worried. “Did you know her?”
Kakashi let his hand drop away from her face and stood back up “...Let’s go” he said as he jumped nimbly up to the nearest rooftop.
Sai followed suit without asking anymore questions and that was something that Kakashi was more than grateful for.
**
Sakura watched with trepidation as Naruto started crossing the maze of wires, his confidence (and carelessness) obviously increasing with each step. He had covered half of the distance between them when he paused and looked up, something mischievous sparkled in his eyes as he lifted his arms into the air and Sakura’s trepidation morphed into full blown horror when she realised what he was about to do.
“Naruto!” she and Yamato both hissed at the same time.
Their warnings obviously fell on deaf ears when he ignored them completely, running two steps and doing a forward flip through the air. As he was coming back down his foot came very close to clipping one of the wires and Sakura’s heart lurched in her chest, sure that they were about to be hailed with exploding tags, but he somehow managed to land safely on his feet.
“How awesome was that?” he said, laughing under his breath; he looked so inordinately happy with himself and his grin was so wide that Sakura had to wonder how his head didn’t split in two.
“Are you an idiot?!” she was trying very hard to keep her voice low and not scream at him like she so desperately wanted to, but it was difficult. She couldn’t even say she was that surprised; Naruto was always pulling stupid stunts like this... the urge to stomp over and smack him upside the head was almost too strong to resist.
“This is an important mission, Naruto” Yamato whispered sternly “I expect a little more from you... you’re not a kid anymore.”
“Okay, okay... I’m sorry” Naruto said. He made a show of looking guilty and rubbed at the back of his head but it was hard to believe him when his smile didn’t falter even a little.
“Just get over here already!” Sakura said, exasperated.
With the way he had pulled off that spectacular front flip only moments ago Sakura could be forgiven for thinking that she had underestimated Naruto’s ability to navigate his way through the traps. There were three wires between them and then maybe only four times that many until they got to the end of the street... she was even beginning to think that if Naruto could just behave himself that they might still have a chance of reaching their target without being detected.
Unfortunately her hopes were dashed when Naruto took one step forward, tripped over his own foot and went blundering right into one of the wires.
“Shit...” Naruto managed before everything went to hell.
**
Sai stuck close to Kakashi as they reached the tall building in the centre of the village (one of the broken signs outside indicated that it used to be a medical facility) and skirted the sagging chain link perimeter fence, looking for any discrete point of entry.
They found a spot in the fence where there was a hole (just large enough for an adult male to pass through on his hands and knees) and the way that the stray bits of wire had been folded back carefully with pliers implied that it was intended to be used as an entrance or exit of some sort. They passed through the gap and were just coming up to the side of the building when the ground shook with the force of an explosion. They both dropped to the ground instinctually before it registered that the explosion was nowhere near them; that it had, in fact, come from the other side of the village. Where the rest of their team was supposed to be... where Naruto was supposed to be.
Sai had felt worry before (sometimes for Sakura but almost always for Naruto) but it didn’t quite compare to the unpleasant pulling sensation in his chest or the almost nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was experiencing now.
Kakashi pushed up from the ground, back into his earlier crouching position and Sai mimicked him without thinking. It wasn’t until Kakashi started moving toward the building again that Sai found his tongue and spoke up.
“Should we not go see if the others need assistance?”
Kakashi pivoted just enough so he could look Sai in the eye “They’re more than capable of looking after themselves. I’m sure they’re fine.”
Sai frowned, he knew that what Kakashi was saying was true and that he would never leave his teammates to fend for themselves if he thought they were in any real danger but that fact did very little to dispel the uneasiness he was feeling.
“...And besides” Kakashi continued “they’ve provided the perfect distraction.”
Sai supposed that was also true; the Root Nin were no doubt flocking to the site of the explosion and leaving their base (and the information within) unguarded. He might have been tempted to argue the point a little further if Sakura hadn’t been in the other group, she was the most capable medic-nin that he had ever worked with and he trusted that she would make sure that Naruto was unharmed.
Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at him in question and Sai nodded in affirmation. They approached the side door and Sai took his position on one side of it, body tense and ready to deal with whatever was on the other side as Kakashi reached out and tested the handle. It turned smoothly in his hand and he pushed the door inwards revealing nothing but an empty hallway.
They entered the base cautiously, listening carefully for any sign of enemy activity.
**
Naruto was a little disoriented; it was dark, he hurt all over and his ears were ringing. When he tried to stand up he bumped his head painfully against a hard ceiling and it wasn’t until he reached out and pressed his hand up against a solid wall of wood that he realised what had happened.
“Yamato-taichou!” he called out.
The wood began to recede and Naruto squinted against the light. Before he even knew what was happening Sakura had grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out of his well-meaning prison. She manhandled him thoroughly, poking and prodding him with a medical efficiency that was slightly marred by how white her face was. He could see that Yamato looked uncharacteristically shaken as well.
“I’m fine, Sakura-chan” he said, trying to smile reassuringly.
She looked at him like he was an escaped lunatic “You just got hit by, I don’t know, fifty exploding tags! If you were anyone else we’d be picking pieces of you up off the ground right now!”
“I got hit?” Naruto asked, honestly baffled. He remembered tripping but everything was a little blurry after that.
“Yes.” Yamato spoke up “And then the force of the explosion set off all of the other traps in the area... I only just managed to protect us in time.”
Naruto gulped and looked around; the pavement was completely torn up and scorched beyond recognition. “Er... My bad?”
Sakura swatted him across the back of the head and looked like she was just about to launch into a tirade when Yamato cut across her.
“We have to move quickly. We’ve blown our cover and our enemies will be converging on this point any second now.”
“Prudent as ever, Tenzou-san”
Naruto scrambled to his feet at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, kunai already in his hand and he twisted just in time to block the sword that had been aiming for the back of his neck.
In the ensuing chaos, Naruto counted five ANBU including the one that was currently trying to skin him alive. Five against three didn’t seem very fair, he thought to himself with a grin as he put some distance between them, it was time to even the odds a little.
“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” he cried out.
Ten clones poofed into existence and joined the fray, two of them tackling an ANBU to the ground almost immediately while a third and fourth launched a rasengan into their prone target.
Naruto was distracted from admiring the handiwork of his clones when a hand burst from the ground and grabbed at his ankle, trying to pull him under in an earth element jutsu. One of the other Narutos caught him around the waist and pulled him aside at the last second and the hand closed on nothing but air.
Naruto held out his hand and the clone helped him form his own rasengan just as the ANBU was pulling themselves out of the earth, he slammed it into their chest and watched as they went careening backwards, colliding with the exterior wall of one of the buildings with a loud smack. They weren’t getting back up anytime soon.
“Ha-ha! One down!” he gloated and high fived the other Naruto. The smile disappeared off the clone’s face and was replaced with an expression of pained surprise; Naruto looked down to see a blade sticking through the clone’s midsection just before it disappeared in a puff of smoke.
He barely managed to throw himself out of the way of the sword in time, going sprawling on the ground and leaving himself more than a little vulnerable. His opponent took advantage of the opening and Naruto winced in anticipation of the blow from the sword as the blade descended on him.
“Shannaro!”
Naruto heard the ANBU’s ribcage crunch audibly before they were launched into the air by the force of Sakura’s punch, hitting the ground hard and rolling until they lay in a motionless heap several metres away.
“Thanks, Sakura-chan!” Naruto beamed up at her as he took her extended hand and pulled himself to his feet.
“That’s the last of them!” Yamato called from where he was standing a few feet away, his foot firmly planted between the shoulder blades of a bound ANBU.
Naruto’s heart was pounding in his ears and the adrenaline was singing in his veins in the post-fight high. His eyes drifted back to Sakura and he couldn’t help but notice the way she was breathing hard and was all flushed and sweaty; he wondered, briefly, what it would be like to have Sakura and Sai in bed at the same time. They would certainly make a pretty picture...
“Stop grinning like a moron, Naruto” she warned, almost as if she could read his mind.
Naruto supposed that those were the kind of thoughts that he should keep to himself if he wanted to keep some choice pieces of his anatomy.
**
Kakashi and Sai came across a room that was pitch black despite the early hour. Kakashi felt around the inside of the wall until he found a light switch; the fluorescents flickered to life and revealed a small office that was in much better condition than most of the other rooms in the building. The windows had been covered over with metal sheeting, there was a strategy table in the middle of the floor and the room was packed with bookshelves and filing cabinets. This had to be their base of operations.
Kakashi was quick to notice the paper tags that covered the drawers of the filing cabinets, obviously designed to keep prying eyes away from the documents inside; the seal depicted on each was complex and unfamiliar to him.
“Sai, do you know how to disarm these?” he asked.
Sai moved away from where he had been perusing one of the many bookshelves and crossed the room to look at the paper tags. “They’re set up so that only a member of the foundation can unlock them... they look a little different from the last time I saw one, but the basic design is still the same.”
Sai quickly formed the necessary hand seals (hare, snake, tiger and boar) and pressed his palm to the first paper tag. Kakashi watched closely with his sharingan and could clearly see how Sai was forcing his chakra into the seal; he spared a second to think about how lucky they were to have someone on their team who had been so close to Danzou.
“There, that should do it” Sai said finally as he peeled the tag off the drawer.
Sure enough, it came away from the metal so easily it was as if it were nothing more than a regular piece of paper.
“Good work.” Kakashi said with a smile as he reached out and opened the drawer. It was full to the brim with manila folders and Kakashi ran his finger along the top of them before pulling one out at random.
He opened the folder and realised that these files were exactly what they were looking for. It contained photographs of one of the ANBU with their mask off and details of their personal life, fighting style and mission performance. There were maybe thirty files in this drawer alone and while he could memorise them with the sharingan they didn’t really have the time for him to go through every single one of them.
“Sai, I’m going to need you to draw up a storage scroll. There’s no way that we can carry all of this back to Konoha”
Sai moved to swing his pack off his back but then the lights were snuffed out and they were suddenly plunged into darkness.
**
Sakura was following close behind Yamato as they crossed the threshold and entered the enemy base when her captain came to an abrupt stop; she only just managed to avoid bumping into him and winced when Naruto stepped on the back of her foot.
“Sorry, Sakura-chan!” Naruto whispered from behind her.
She wasn’t concerned with Naruto’s clumsiness however, Yamato had turned around to face them now and his expression was grim.
“I just felt a massive burst of Sai and Kakashi-senpai’s chakra” he said “we should-”
He was cut off as Naruto pushed past them and started down the corridor “Come on! What are we waiting for?”
Sakura jogged after him and Yamato wasn’t far behind.
**
A/N: Author comments can be found here: http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/20469-the-foxs-brush-narutoxsai/
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The Fox's Brush.