I Shall Not Want

A/N: So, this chapter isn't really very fun—it's mostly a lot of information. Most of you will probably skim over it, since it's kind of dense. Anything you need to know will be reinforced later, so it's not as though you should start taking notes or something.

For a map of the world, so you can visualize what I'm describing, go to http://www. leafninja. com/country.php

Puppies and pickles to the betas, bronzetigress, stinky_horowitz and venusian_eye.

Part 4: Of Missions and Memories

Iruka's two weeks in ANBU 'cram school', as it's less-than-affectionately called, pass quickly in the way that a typhoon passes quickly: it seems to last forever while it's going on, but it's over before he knows it, and leaves him feeling partially destroyed.

Now, the day before he leaves for Wind Country, he sits in the briefing room in the T&I complex, waiting for the rest of his ANBU team to arrive so they can receive the latest intel and begin last-minute preparation for their mission. He's dressed in his ANBU armor, mask under his chair, arm itching where his tattoo has just been healed. He can't remember the last time he was so thoroughly grateful for a few moments of rest and quiet.

Most of the ANBU-specific training is mental. The difference between jounin and ANBU is not in jutsu or physical capability, but in a particular state of mind, a brutally hammered-in sociopathy that is an extension of the ninja code Iruka has been drilling pre-genin on for years. There is no room within it to maneuver one's own 'way of the ninja', no room for posturing, taunting and preaching--you follow the ANBU code or you die. And if somehow you don't die, your comrades will make you wish you had.

At least, that's what Iruka's new comrades—including Ibiki—constantly impress on him, as the two weeks go by. But they are not an army; their missions are such that they cannot act uniformly. They can't do things 'by the book', because there is no book. Everything they do is on a razor's edge. To hold them together, the ANBU have only their code, their trademark uniform, self-discipline and fierce loyalty to those things which have at least a slight chance of existing long enough to outlive them—mainly Konoha, Fire Country, the Hokage, concepts like the Will of Fire and, in a few cases, each other. Long-time ANBU veterans—like, for example, Kakashi or Ibiki—have devoted followers even among the new recruits. Very few operatives have strong ties outside ANBU. For most of them, Iruka finds, nothing else really exists.

ANBU is definitely not a place for someone like Naruto, Iruka thinks fondly, and Tsunade isn't fool enough to ever appoint him, no matter how strong he is or how low their numbers become. Luckily, the Jinchuuriki has never taken it into his head that the route to the seat of Hokage must go through ANBU, so he's never made noise about becoming one.

ANBU's barely suitable even for Iruka. He wouldn't have been able to survive as an ANBU even a few short years ago, he knows. But he has ice now in a core that used to only run hot, and tempered steel in a spine that used to be more brittle, like overworked iron. He has adapted some of it from his bond with his partner, part of it from very nearly losing him twice—once when Pain attacked, and later when the bijuu were released—and the rest simply from surviving the various magnificent disasters that have been Konoha's lot for the past several years.

The door to the briefing room pushes open, and Iruka is not surprised to see Sai walk in, dressed in his ANBU gear with his mask hooked on his belt. One of the things Iruka learned over the past couple of weeks is that every member of Root who fought with Tsunade against Danzou was—eventually, after extensive examination, interrogation and other testing—given a place in ANBU, as Danzou's brand of brainwashing made them particularly suitable for it. Of course, his brand of brainwashing also made most of Root unshakably loyal to him; it was only by chance that a few latched on to other things. There are only three former Roots in ANBU—only three left alive.

Sai whips out Icha Icha Tactics, slouches, shoves his unoccupied hand in his pocket, lowers his eyelids to half-mast and affects a terminally bored expression. Head facing Iruka but eyes on his book, he jerks his head up and down once in a reverse nod, raising his eyebrows slightly, and says, “Yo.”

The imitation is uncanny enough to be slightly unsettling, but Iruka still bursts out laughing, almost falling off his chair.

Sai beams at him. “Was it good, Iruka-san? I've been practicing. I've read in several books that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

“It was...dead on,” Iruka gasps, forcing his laughter to taper off. “Almost frightening, really. Like you were channeling him. Oh, thank you so much, Sai; I needed that.”

“I thought that you might. I remember when I started ANBU, and...well, perhaps that is not the best parallel for me to draw, because it was not difficult for me.” Sai puts his book away and takes a seat next to Iruka.

“Of course not, when you'd been through Root already,” Iruka agrees.

Sai turns his smile up a few watts. “But I have read several accounts that indicate most people find induction into ANBU to be a grueling and uncomfortable process, so I hoped to cheer you up a bit.”

Iruka grins at him and clasps his shoulder. “You did. Thanks.”

“I have been working on imitating Naruto as well, but I am finding him significantly more difficult to emulate.”

Iruka tries to imagine Sai impersonating Naruto the way he just did Kakashi, and can't quite manage it. “That doesn't surprise me at all.”

“He projects an energy that I am not certain I am capable of mimicking. If I ever perfect the impersonation, I will demonstrate it for you.”

“You could always just henge into him,” Iruka ventures.

Sai's mouth draws down a little. “Oh, no, Iruka-san. That would eliminate most of the challenge. And Kakashi suggested that it would be better for undercover work if I could portray other characteristics when I am still myself, you see.”

“Ah.” The idea seems sound, but Sai takes entirely too much advice from Kakashi, in Iruka's opinion. Half the time Kakashi tells him things just for his own amusement, and Sai always seems to take his words very seriously. If Sai wasn't incapable of being humiliated—at least as far as Iruka can tell—he would insist that his partner stop trying to influence him. Probably an exercise in futility, anyway. “Makes sense, I suppose,” he sighs.

“I am Hydra,” Sai says.

Iruka stares at him for a moment before he realizes that Sai is giving him his ANBU name. “Er, I'm Dagon,” he replies.

He's taken aback when this causes a sincere expression of astonished delight to briefly overtake Sai's austere, pale face. “Father Dagon and Mother Hydra!” Sai exclaims, motioning between them. He sounds as though he's made a profound scientific discovery. In an unprecedented show of glee, Sai clasps Iruka's hands in both of his, squeezing them and practically vibrating with happiness.

Iruka doesn't bother to try and hide his confusion. “What?” he asks, pretty sure his eyebrows are in his hairline.

“It's an obscure reference to some worthless, melodramatic pulp horror by a dead writer who was a talentless hack,” Kakashi says from the doorway. His face is hidden by his Jackal mask.

Sai drops Iruka's hands and turns to glare at Kakashi. “He was not a hack; he was a genius,” he insists.

Iruka purses his lips and holds his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Worthless, melodramatic pulp by a dead, talentless hack,” he murmurs, as though deep in thought. “I've heard similar descriptions of another author...” He grins inwardly as his imagination supplies him with an image of the deceased Sannin Jiraiya pulling down one of his lower eyelids and sticking his tongue out.

“Hey, until you've actually read the Icha Icha series all the way through, you have no call at all to disrespect the dead.” Iruka's partner steps into the room, putting a hand protectively over his hip satchel, where whichever of his precious Icha Icha books he's currently re-reading resides. With his other hand he pulls off the porcelain face, revealing his cloth mask.

Sai's face is back to its usual blind Madonna smile. “Perhaps during our journey to Sunagakure, Iruka-san, we can all read to each other from—”

“I am not going to spend my first ANBU mission reading porn, Sai,” Iruka growls.

“The next one, then!” Kakashi chimes in, sitting down. He kicks around the chair in front of him and slings his feet up onto it.

As Iruka opens his mouth to reply, Ibiki comes in like a quiet storm. Iruka shuts his mouth, and he and Sai both sit straight, at attention. Kakashi doesn't move, but his eye follows his commander like a hawk.

Ibiki stands at the podium, hands folded behind his back. “We have a problem, Ladies,” he begins. “New troubles at home, in the west and south, and we've lost contact with four teams of jounin in Lightning. As if that's not enough, an ambassador from Kirigakure was assassinated on Fire Country soil two days ago, and now the Mizukage is making noise about war.”

Kakashi frowns. “Water isn't much better off these days than we are, after that war with Lightning,” he comments. “That would be a short conflict with no victor.”

“Let the diplomats worry about that,” Ibiki says coolly. “It's not our problem yet. Our problem is that the ANBU whom the ambassador's attendants have accused of the ambassador's murder was meant to accompany you to Suna, and because of our current situation there aren't any other ANBU I can send with you.”

“Isn't Lynx recouping from a lung infection, Commander?” Kakashi asks. “He could catch up with us in—”

“As of tomorrow, Lynx is on his way to Kumogakure,” Ibiki informs him.

Kakashi's eye widens slightly at that. Iruka guesses that Tenzou wasn't in very good shape when Kakashi last visited him in the hospital. For a second, it looks like Kakashi might say something provoking, but when he speaks it's only to ask, “What about Gazelle?”

“Already been taken off his current assignment and is heading south to the coast. I've been down the list several times, Captain; there's no one available.”

Gazelle is another ANBU Iruka has come to know by codename—Shikamaru. He knows from his former job at the mission desk that Kurenai has been in Lightning Country for over a month, and wonders briefly who takes care of Kurenai and Asuma's toddler while she and Shikamaru are out of town. His heart sinks a little as he realizes that Kurenai would be one of the jounin that Konoha has lost contact with.

“You can't transfer someone from one of our back-up teams?” Sai asks.

Ibiki looks disgruntled. “You're not going to have any back-up for this mission, I'm afraid. At least, not Konoha ANBU. The Kazekage has pledged to lend you whatever aid he can spare, but with Suna at war on two fronts, I don't think you'll get much.”

Iruka hadn't really formed a definite opinion about the mission to Wind, but it's beginning to sound like a very bad idea. “Do we have the option of postponing this mission, Commander Jaguar? It sounds like our forces are being spread thin enough as it is.” Plus, as he knows from working the mission room, they have the dubious luxury of knowing that the teams they've sent to Wind Country to deal with this so far are dead and destroyed, as opposed to the situation in Lightning, where their people might require rescue or corpse recovery.

“Yes, they are being spread too thin, and no, we don't have the option to postpone. We can't afford to lose Sunagakure or the Kazekage to Earth Country or the insurrectionists, and even if there isn't much we can do, we have to do what we can. If the assassination attempts continue in that environment, the odds are that one of them will succeed, even on Sabaku no Gaara.”

“Is it better to save the Kazekage and lose Konoha because no one was home, Commander?” Kakashi says lightly. His tone sets Iruka's teeth on edge.

Ibiki shakes his head, just slightly. “We are still well-defended, Captain. Gazelle's intel is good; we know where the major threats are, and none of them are here yet. If we've deployed correctly, none of them will ever get here. Our posts are manned—just barely, but they are—our vitals are guarded. Just because our big stars will be out of town doesn't mean no one's holding down the fort.”

Even with his mask on, Kakashi's face radiates that he is thoroughly unimpressed.

“The Hokage is sending one person with you, though,” Ibiki continues after a moment. “A jounin, not an ANBU, so you'll get a little warm-up for your undercover.” He makes an unreadable face. “The Kazekage personally requested that he be allowed to accompany you, if he was available.”

There's only one Konohan that Iruka can imagine Gaara wanting to see in a time of such turmoil. “She's sending Naruto, sir?” he asks.

“Yes. Obviously, his mission objectives will be different from yours. He'll be backing up the Kazekage's bodyguards—”

“'Backing up'?” Kakashi interjects. “'Taking over' is more likely.”

“Naruto is definitely not good at remaining in the background, sir,” Sai adds cheerfully.

“Whatever. Officially, he's backing them up, but he'll do whatever the hell he wants, as usual. Not my responsibility, so I don't care as long as he doesn't interfere with your mission. It should work out, since he'll be staying in Sunagakure while you head southwest to Kurocha.”

Iruka frowns. “I thought the guerrilla forces were based out of Akatsuchi City, on the coast, Commander.”

“Our most recent intel strongly indicates that they are being controlled by an unknown enemy in Kurocha. It also indicates that our enemy, while having no public face, does have ties with the civilian police there. He also has ties to more officially criminal elements; you'll find you have any number of places you can choose to infiltrate. Deep cover with the police is your best bet.”

“What do you mean, 'officially criminal elements', Commander?” Iruka asks.

Kakashi answers him. “He means the police are just as bad as the people they're supposed to be policing, if not worse.”

Ibiki nods. “Once you've cut the head off the snake, ensure it doesn't grow any more of them, and then re-emerge to Sunagakure. Make contact from there and await further orders. Here are your mission dossiers.” He reaches into his trench coat and pulls out three identical files, stepping around the podium to hand them out. “Questions?”

“It looks like we're going to be dealing mostly with civilians. Our target obviously has some shinobi working under him, since the guerrillas use ninjutsu. Do we know whether the target is a shinobi?” Kakashi asks, flipping through his file.

“We do not,” Ibiki admits. “And while there are a lot of shinobi in Akatsuchi City, there are almost none in Kurocha, which should have made him easy to spot, if he's a ninja. But the odds of a civilian having control of a shinobi guerrilla army are almost nonexistent, unless he has a team of formidable shinobi loyalists very close to him. The one team we sent to Kurocha was obviously killed by ninja, but it's impossible to say how many or if they even had anything to do with the war on Suna.”

“If there are not many ninja in Kurocha, and our target is the powerful director of a shinobi army, then it seems doubtful that the shinobi who killed our ANBU had nothing to do with him,” Sai deduces.

“I think we can safely assume a connection,” Kakashi says, snapping his folder closed. “The Suna ANBU who survived that mission might be available for us to question.”

“There were survivors?” Iruka asks.

“One. Just one. We'll do heavy chakra-masking,” Kakashi instructs. “We don't want the target's people to find us before we find the target.”

“Yes, Captain,” Sai says with a sharp nod.

“Understood, Captain,” Iruka says softly, trying the title out for the first time. The word feels strange in his mouth, only because it's Kakashi, but he likes its flavor.

“Well, if there isn't anything else, you're dismissed, shinobi,” Ibiki says, heading toward the door. “If you need me, you know where to find me.”

He and Kakashi look at Iruka and Sai, who shake their heads. Kakashi says, “No questions, Commander Jaguar.”

Ibiki nods at them and slips from the room.

Kakashi stands up and stretches lazily. “I'm going to go take a look at Naruto's mission dossier,” he says. “See if there's anything in it we should know about. Hydra, go and talk to Sakura and have her set you up with some poisons, and antidotes for the poisons used in that region. Get sedatives, and some sodium pentothal or scopolamine, too. The strongest truth serum she has; we can dilute it if we need to.”

“Sakura is on a mission right now, sir,” Sai replies.

Kakashi looks irritated for an instant before his eye curves in a smile. “Talk to whoever you have to, I don't care.”

“Yes, Captain Jackal. Should I stock up on soldier pills and field medic supplies for each of us, sir?” Sai asks, standing. Iruka stands as well, bending over to touch his toes and stretch out his back.

“If you need them, get them. I have plenty.”

“I could use some soldier pills,” Iruka says, straightening up again.

“I will procure them for you, Father Dagon,” Sai replies, and Iruka's eyebrow twitches.

“Don't call me that. I'm sure as hell not calling you 'Mother Hydra'.”

“I can't promise anything,” says Sai, “because now I will always think of the two of us in this way. I might slip up.”

There's no way Sai would ever 'slip up' about something like this. He knows it, and he knows Iruka knows it. He's inheriting far too much of Kakashi's sense of humor, Iruka thinks exasperatedly. “Right. Just don't call me that.” He turns to Kakashi. “Any orders for me, Captain?”

Kakashi looks at him for a moment, eye unreadable. “You go home, read your dossier and get some rest,” he finally says. “I know Commander Jaguar finally let you sleep last night, but you look like you still have some catching up to do, Dagon.” There is the tiniest hesitation before his codename, that lets Iruka know Kakashi is still not quite reconciled to this whole situation.

“Alright, sir,” Iruka agrees. He might have taken umbrage that he was being ordered to bed instead of being given something productive to do, but he knows the ANBU code now. Kakashi's not fucking around, not coddling or protecting him. If his Captain says he needs to rest, then he needs to rest, and he's going to whether he likes it or not.

Sai gives Iruka a shallow bow, then gives a deeper one to Kakashi. He slips on his mask and leaves the room. Iruka stoops to snatch the mask of Dagon out from under his chair, and moves to put it on, but Kakashi grabs his wrist abruptly, stopping him. He hasn't seen Iruka wear the mask yet, Iruka realizes.

Kakashi slowly pulls his cloth mask down with one hand, still holding Iruka's wrist tightly. He leans forward and kisses him with a firm, slow, thorough grind of his lips. Iruka steps forward, pressing his body to Kakashi's, a calf sliding alongside Kakashi's leg. For a brief moment Iruka entertains the notion of taking Kakashi standing up while Kakashi leans over the podium, but he's far too tired for that. Besides, he's not sure if the door locks, and while Kakashi doesn't mind voyeurism and exhibitionism, Iruka's just not a big fan of them.

The kiss ends tenderly and softly, and Kakashi pulls away and looks at Iruka, expectation written on his face.

Iruka is about to ask him what he's waiting for, when he remembers what he was doing before Kakashi kissed him. He smiles at his partner, chest aching a little—Kakashi's going to hate this. He doesn't take his time, just hooks the mask onto his head in the swift move he's been practicing for the past two weeks, and it's done.

Kakashi stares at Iruka in a way Iruka's never seen. His face is impassive, but there's something in his eye and brow, maybe the set of his jaw, that tells Iruka Kakashi is far from pleased. There's loathing in that dark silver eye. It hurts, but it is only what Iruka expects. He hopes that all that loathing is for him, and not for Kakashi himself.

Kakashi pulls up the cloth that hides his face and then reaches for his own ANBU mask, slipping it on and hiding his eye in shadow. Iruka's shoulders relax. Dagon bows to his superior, and Jackal returns it, then silently leaves the room.

Dagon grabs his mission dossier from where he'd set it on a chair, and heads home.


A little while later, Iruka is curled up on his couch with a cup of tea, going over the mission dossier. Some of the information is surprising, but most of it he knows already. He can't help reminiscing, as Wind's circumstances remind him of the past.

A little over a year ago, the Tsuchikage invaded Bird Country and Rain Country with an enormous army of shinobi. Bird Country surrendered without a fight; the country was not prosperous enough to hire the ninja they'd need to counter a shinobi army—Iruka doesn't know of any of the smaller countries who are prosperous enough, except perhaps Moon Country. In any case, there wouldn't have been time. The troops moved swiftly and silently as wind, and the capital was taken almost before anyone knew what was happening. Daimyo Toki did not want to risk her subjects in open resistance, but from what Naruto has told Iruka of her, he has no doubt she is working to sabotage the Tsuchikage's plans if she can.

Rain Country is a different story. Akatsuki's goals might have become different after Sasuke succeeded Pain as the head of the organization two years ago, but the lust for blood and power remained the same, as well as the location of their main base in Amegakure. Sasuke's hate-fueled charisma had ninja from all over flocking to his banner. The war between Akatsuki and Konoha had leveled the high buildings of Ame. Naruto had captained the assault, and his battle with his best friend was legendary. But although Naruto emerged the victor, Sasuke had wrought a terrible vengeance.

Akatsuki had moved their captured demons from their cave in River Country to an underground facility in their Ame building. Sasuke was able to escape from Naruto long enough to make his way down there. With the last of his strength, he had released all of the bijuu.

The destruction the demons wrought was the greatest devastation in history. They had completely destroyed Rain Country, almost all of Grass Country, northwest Fire Country and northern River Country. The Kazekage's forces managed to keep them out of Wind and Bird country, but his losses were heavy.

Naruto had beaten Sasuke with his own strength, and a little help from the power Itachi had bequeathed him, while Kakashi had led the battalions that took out Tobi—Kakashi refused to allow him to be referred to by any other name—but even with Naruto's Sage power, the Jinchuuriki could not contain seven bijuu. With guidance from Killer Bee, the bijuu from Lightning, he had become the complete Kyuubi while retaining his sanity and the integrity of his physical body, as Bee became Hachibi. Together, they managed to stop the rampaging bijuu from destroying the continent, and kept them busy long enough for sealing spells to be cast by a few of the strongest ninja left in the world.

Iruka is extremely thankful that Kakashi wasn't one of them. He would have volunteered, Iruka is certain, but he didn't have enough chakra after fighting for so long. He probably didn't have enough even at full strength. Huge chakra stores are not among the Copy-Nin's assets.

Iruka's also grateful that, for once, the site of disaster was not Konoha, though he feels slightly guilty for that. He wouldn't have wished that kind of destruction on anyplace.

But what he really kneels down and praises his ancestors for is that Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi and he survived the fallout. He doesn't know how Tsunade and Sakura saved them all, and he doesn't care. He's just glad they're alive.

When Sasuke awoke after a long coma, Naruto was with him. Naruto has never told Iruka what was said in that cold hospital room, but when Sasuke emerged he was a changed man. Or rather, he seemed to have woken up from a long and horrific nightmare, as though he'd finally become the person he could have been—should have been—if he hadn't always allowed others to manipulate him. He was filled with remorse for the desolation he had wrought on four countries. Rather than face a trial where he would most likely be sentenced to death, or at least to have his Sharingan removed and his chakra sealed, he snuck out of Konoha—with help from Naruto—and went to do whatever he could to help the survivors and refugees, anyone who had nowhere to go and nothing left because of him.

Naruto told Iruka that Sasuke promised to return to Konoha when Naruto becomes Hokage. Even though he didn't promise he would stay, Naruto was satisfied with that.

Sasuke made the site of Amegakure his base of operations, and with the help of his former Hebi followers, made a place habitable enough that refugees began trickling in, their arrival staggered in groups and lone individuals. Among those were many dispossessed Grass and Rain ninja, enough that Sasuke could start accepting missions, smaller ones, in order to fund the growing colony. He named his new city Okori, genesis, to commemorate his new beginning.

When Iwagakure had invaded, Sasuke had not been prepared for an army. Like Daimyo Toki, he had not challenged the Tsuchikage openly, for fear of the lives of the people in his charge. Instead they had abandoned Okori—temporarily, Iruka is sure—and gone to ground. Now he leads his shinobi in strategic guerrilla attacks, much like the insurrectionists in Wind are doing, but he has not yet been able to drive them out of Rain. Their numbers are too great.

Naruto, of course, wanted to charge in with jutsu blazing, though the Hokage forbade it—they didn't have the numbers to send if Naruto challenged the Tsuchikage openly, which of course he would have. Naruto might have been able to handle the army as Kyuubi, but it would heap more devastation on a country that just couldn't afford it. He might have gone anyway, even by himself, but Sasuke sent him a message by snake. Iruka doesn't know what it said, but afterward Naruto stopped pressing and agreed to abide by Tsunade's wishes. When Iruka asked about it, Naruto just smiled and said Sasuke could take care of himself and his people.

Konoha has unofficially sent what few shinobi they could to aid Sasuke, though he is still officially a missing-nin. They are also the source of one of the secret supply lines that keep his people fed, clothed and doctored.

Iwagakure has not faced the various catastrophes that Konoha, Suna, Kiri and Kumo have been beset by in the past several years, and they remained fairly neutral up until the invasion. Not one of the four other great shinobi nations knew the Tsuchikage was preparing an army. Now his forces occupy Bird and Rain, and they have been launching a steady assault on Sunagakure for the past several months. The city has yet to fall, and the Iwa army is diminishing, but not faster than the shinobi of Suna. So far, most attempts to cut off Iwa's supply and communication lines have failed. Suna has lost many of theirs, but Gaara is managing to keep enough open that his people aren't starving, yet.

To make the situation worse, teams of unknown shinobi began launching guerrilla attacks on Suna's flanks soon after the Iwagakure invasion began. All of them were equipped with an odd, chakra-infused, electrical glass device that refracted light in such a way that the wearer became invisible. They became visible as soon as they made a violent move, but they could sneak invisibly, even through the desert in broad daylight. They all seemed exceptionally skilled at masking their chakra, as well, so they were virtually undetectable until they attacked.

After recovering some of the guerrilla corpses and interrogating what few prisoners they've managed to apprehend, Suna discovered that the unknown shinobi were mostly comprised of people who had ninja levels of chakra but had never pledged themselves to any village. Many of them were former Akatsuki—none from the inner circle; all of those ninja were dead, except for Sasuke and his three followers. There were few missing-nin, as far as Suna could determine. Their insurrection was based in Wind Country, the barracks in a base hidden in Akatsuchi City that had not been located yet. Most recently, it was discovered that the leader of the insurrectionists is based in Kurocha, and from all accounts, he has never left that city. How he communicates with his troops is unknown.

There doesn't seem to be any correlation between the insurrectionists and the Iwa army, beyond the possible coincidence of their attacks beginning at roughly the same time, only a few weeks between them. No evidence of communications between the two attacking forces has been uncovered, and they have not been witnessed interacting with each other, which is suspicious. The Iwa army now surrounds Suna, and yet somehow they have never been seen interacting with—or perhaps fighting—the insurrectionists, though the guerrillas would have to go among them in order to reach Suna. The invisibility seems an unlikely explanation; invisible objects still have mass and volume. The rush and bustle of a war camp is not somewhere teams of people could go sneaking around without having someone bump into them or notice their passing, especially a ninja camp.

But they have gotten through the Iwa army lines, and several individuals have infiltrated Suna. The guard on the towering cliffs surrounding the city has so far been impenetrable, and the slit hidden in the cliffs, the great ziggurat gate, is heavily fortified. It is thought that the insurrectionists might be getting in via Sunagakure's supply lines, but where and what those are, the dossier doesn't say—much to Iruka's annoyance. That might be helpful to know; he will ask Gaara, if he gets a chance.

The infiltrators seem to have only one purpose—the assassination of the Kazekage. They have not sent in anyone with Deidara's ability to create weapons of mass destruction, or threatened any of the citizens of Suna, or tried to assassinate Gaara's advisors and Commanders, or attempted to sabotage supply lines and communications. Though they attack patrols outside the city fairly regularly, that is thought to be more of a distraction than anything.

The shinobi of Suna are usually able to stop the infiltrators before they get to Gaara, mostly thanks to Temari, Kankurou and Baki. The enemy shinobi kill themselves before they can be captured, if possible, but the Sand nin have managed to take a few down alive. So far, the Kazekage's sand defense and attacks—formidable even without the power of Shukaku behind them—have kept him safe, the very few times the intruders have managed to reach him.

The dossier corroborates everything Commander Jaguar told them in the meeting, not that Iruka expected otherwise. Konoha sent a couple of teams to back up Sand in Akatsuchi City for a recon mission, but they were killed, Suna and Konoha alike. Suna's ANBU was able to locate and destroy the bodies, but were not able to recover any relevant information.

Suna has sent more teams to the City, and while they've been able to take out some of the attacking nin and come back alive, they haven't been able to locate the enemy's base of operations.

When Suna first got the word 'Kurocha' out of one of the captured guerrilla fighters, they sent a team to investigate immediately. The team was killed, but not before getting off a message that confirmed the suspicion that the two cities were connected somehow, even though they were hundreds of miles apart. Konoha sent one team of ANBU to Kurocha to back up Suna's, and as Jackal had mentioned, out of the two teams only one Suna ANBU survived.

Iruka wonders if Dagon, Hydra and Jackal have any chance of beating this enemy, considering how many excellent ninja have died just trying to find them.

That ANBU brought back valuable intel, enough that Gaara was able to request that Konoha change their ANBU mission status from reconnaissance to assassination. Now they at least have some idea of who their enemy is affiliated with, and are reasonably sure that it's only one target they are after.

Iruka muses on this for a while, then flips through his folder to find information about Kurocha.

Kurocha, Iruka reads, is an enormously overpopulated city that spreads around a river of the same name. There are maps and a few pictures in the dossier, and the pictures are very unsettling. There are heaps and mounds of garbage in the dark brown river, and Iruka can see people splashing around in the water as well. In a picture taken from a high building or ledge, Iruka can see an almost endless patchwork of tin roofs, shacks of corrugated steel and garbage, garbage everywhere. The inhabitants have dark, smooth skin, and they are beautiful and filthy.

Iruka feels a burn of outrage in his guts. What the hell is Gaara doing, letting squalor and poverty like this persist in his country? Godaime would never let things get that bad anywhere in Fire Country. Sandaime would have sooner cut out his eyes than allow a situation like that to develop.

He knows he's oversimplifying. Shaking his head, he reminds himself that the Kazekage has only held his office for about four years, and it's obvious that Kurocha has been in the state it's in for far, far longer than that. Not only that, but Kage usually don't concern themselves with civilian situations outside their village until they're paid to. The daimyo is in charge of the rest of the country. Konoha has been unique in that the Hokage—past and present—try to look out for all of Fire Country, not just the village, to the point where the Fire daimyo sometimes feels his toes are being stepped on. It's not always a good thing, Iruka supposes. It'll probably just get worse whenever Naruto becomes Hokage.

Iruka's not in any position to judge Gaara, but he decides that if Gaara will allow him an audience, he'll discuss the state of Kurocha with him. Just so he can find out more about what they're getting themselves into.

He picks up a couple of pictures of a Kurocha policeman, studying the outfit. It's comprised of dull, tan khakis, a short-sleeved, khaki colored shirt and dark work boots. Hanging from the officer's belt are handcuffs and a pair of tonfa, side-handled batons. There doesn't seem to be any other weaponry besides a few small canisters of pepper spray, or maybe some kind of gas—he can't quite make them out—but Iruka can spot numerous places where shuriken and kunai could be secreted.

He's really pleased that since they'll have Naruto with them on the way to Sunagakure followed by a mission into deep cover, they won't have to strut around in full ANBU kit like a troupe of cosplayers. Not that he's not proud to wear the uniform, but it would be very hot and stifling in the desert.

Iruka doesn't realize it at first when he nods off, but when he jolts awake again, smoothly and without moving a muscle, he decides it's time to follow his Captain's orders and get to bed.

He had thought he would be too anxious about his first ANBU mission to be able to sleep well, but Iruka drops off like a stone as soon as his head hits the pillow, and he stays asleep until the early morning hours.