Chapter 26

Operation Fuckery.

That was the name Naruto Uzumaki deigned to give their plan. In all honesty, Sakura expected no different. Only her sensei could so casually name something as important as taking down a tyrant with such an undignified title. In his opinion, Gato was trash. He didn't deserve a well-thought out op name. On that she agreed. The plan was as her sensei put it, "Gato's men bad. You good. Good kill bad." Her sensei wasn't exactly aspiration material, but she could say one thing: he was a hell of a shinobi.

Sakura along with the others watched as her sensei so casually took out the guards in the outer posts, the roads leading to the base and the ones outside the compound. Kakashi Hatake and Kurenai Yuhi were doing their part too, but there was something strange about the way her sensei moved. He emerged from the shadow of one man to silence him forever, he used a razor wire as a makeshift gallow, and so many other ways. While she admired it, she felt uneasy too. For she too would be doing the same thing.

"They're taking out all of the guards," Hinata said, beside her. Inside the compound walls, Sakura and the others saw how Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake and Kurenai Yuhi were stealthily taking out the guards on the door, the roof of the compound, and the dogs—something which made Kiba look away as Akamaru hid in his mistress' jacket. It was dusk now, and given what the intel was, all of Gato's men started drunken stupors after that—celebrating their control over the Land of Waves. Most of the men were inside and no doubt drunk given the loud of amount of music they could hear.

The jōnin moved on so quickly. Killed one man, jumped out with the body and killed the rest. Remorseless. Sakura knew what duties fell on a shinobi's shoulders, but taking a life was never easy. Deep inside she was still hesitant. The words of her sensei to the three of them before heading out gave her chills.

"I've trained you and sharpened your skills. You're ready. I know what you're being asked to do. I've been there, and it never gets easy. Remember this: they won't spare you. They'll kill you, your teammates, all of us, or worse. Do it for your friends. Your village. Yourself."

Sakura got the signal that they were ready to move. Sasuke Uchiha, her love, her… He was ready as ever and his eyes seemed like hardened obsidian. Sai too seemed steady. Kiba, a bit nervous, but there was a mean gleam in her eye. Hinata looked fairly tensed, but nothing she couldn't overcome. Ino, surprisingly, seemed more calm. Sakura looked at her own hands. They were trembling.

No, no, no, she told herself. Be strong. You can do this.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke's voice singled her out. She looked at the young man she had given her heart to. The same man who was so casually rutting with Tazuna's daughter. She couldn't look at him without remembering that sight. His stare turned into a frown. "Focus."

Sakura didn't answer him and instead looked to the ground. It was clear for them to move out. In groups of two, the genin moved. She was with Hinata, Ino and Kiba, Sai and Sasuke. Kurenai was on the roof, setting up a genjutsu. Kakashi Hatake hung outside the windows of the third floor, where Gato was staying and their sensei had stuck himself to the wall like an insect. She could only wonder how ridiculously good his chakra control was if he could pull this off.

Putting the thought aside, Sakura searched in her pouch and found what she was looking for. Explosive Tags Level 2 custom made by Naruto Uzumaki and smoke bombs. All of the genin got this 'gift' from their sensei and were instructed to attack the first floor. Like clockwork it happened.

Hinata, Sai and Kiba smashed the windows and threw in multiple smoke bombs. Thick black fogs of it emerged from the room and the loud ramblings of angry men came with it. Sakura breathed in. She chucked in the kunai and knew that Ino and Sasuke had timed it well too. Immediately, the group of genin rushed away and took their spots where they stood ready with scrolls of kunai and shuriken ready. They needed to conserve chakra as much as possible, the numbers were not in their favor.

Chaos.

Explosions went off on the base floor as she heard the anguish and screams of men. Sakura, with quivering hands, picked up kunai and shuriken. Her aim always had been precise. The door was slammed open and with jaded eyes she saw how the first man that emerged fell. Half his face gone and blood leaking out of him. Smoke bombs were being thrown at the entrance and around the windows which were being smashed open, the goons so desperately trying to live and escape the fires. A hail of kunai and shuriken flew at them. Metal peeled off their skin, steel tore through flesh and bone, blood splattered and soaked the ground.

There were still people emerging from the building and the wide range array of weapons they had seemed to be keeping them at bay. Sakura, and the others, triggered the second wave of death as they now threw explosive tagged kunai at them and Sakura's poor young eyes, eyes that craved love and wanted to see a bright future saw how her own two hands were responsible for the mutilation in front of them.

She stopped. She looked around. Hinata was throwing them regretfully. Ino looked like as if she was swallowing bitter pills. Kiba looked furious, it was clear she wasn't enjoying this. Sai looked ahead with dead eyes as he was aiming for them almost effortlessly. Sasuke Uchiha…Sasuke…Sasuke-kun.

The young man was throwing them at a speed she couldn't follow. One after the other, his weapons spread far and wide as he brilliantly killed the henchmen. He never even showed this much at the Academy.

At least a hundred men had died in front of her eyes, and there were still people left to fight. To kill. They broke through the ranks as they approached the genin for close quarters combat. She saw how all her teammates were dodging and swerving the attacks, hitting back. Some of the men died almost instantly, others were being broken. Sakura jumped back out of instinct, a burly man with a mace was trying to hit her and Sakura was dodging. It was all she could do.

All she could see around her was fire and blood. The sounds of rage, anguish and squelches as lives were being lost. She was hit with the mace, her left arm bleeding a bit and the man was coming for her. She had moved too far away from the group, they couldn't see her and…and..and

"Fucking bitch," the words reached her ears and she dodged the killing blow. Her hand moved on its own as she buried the kunai she held into his arm, but it was sloppy. Instead of severing the major nerves on his arm, she only managed to slow down the hit she took. Sakura fell down and her mind was still reeling from all the blood, all the bodies she was responsible for putting down today. "You killed my friends." The man told her. There was rage in his eyes as he lifted the mace to hit her, but the blow never came.

Something violet crashed into the man, and before she knew it there was blood on the ground. The smell of piss and shit invaded her nares as she looked on; Ino Yamanaka got off of the man, her sides coated with blood and a look of disgust on her face.

"Ino." It was all Sakura could say and she found herself surprised. Ino also looked at her with wide eyes.

"You alright?"

"Yeah." Sakura replied and both of them were awkwardly not looking at each other. Sakura felt peeved. She looked to the battlefield and saw that most of the goons were rounded up by now, most dead or near dead. Kurenai Yuhi had come down to assist them in battle and helped in taking out scores of the goons. Ino and Sakura soon rejoined the fray and were waiting for the hunter ninja and Zabuza to come out.

Eventually.

All they could do was wait.

...

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