Part 3 – Back at Base

Twelve hours later, the Valor was arriving back at base, a crowd gathered as the gates opened revealing Naruto leaning on Sasuke's side in a human crutch carry.

Sasuke and Naruto walked forward as the soldiers clapped.

The two walked up to Tsunade who smiled, "Consider me impressed," Tsunade said, "Let's get him to the medics."

Sasuke carried Naruto behind Tsunade to the medical station.

When they arrived, Sakura was waiting with the medical staff, and a five foot five Korean-Caucasian woman with long black hair and light purple eyes without any pupils.

"Naruto," the woman said as she ran into him.

"Hinata," Naruto said as he wrapped his free arm around her.

Sakura took Naruto from Sasuke who removed the headband and the solid eye.

"You look like hell." Tsunade said.

"I know." Sasuke said.

After Naruto was patched up, they all reported to Tsunade's office.

When they arrived, Naruto was sitting down with Kakashi, Sakura, and Hinata, "Please, take a seat gentlemen." Tsunade said.

As they sat down, Naruto looked over at Sasuke, "We were just going over the details of my rescue," Naruto said, then looked at Tsunade, "Ma'am."

"Naruto told me about the Kakhovs'ke Incident," Tsunade said, "How come you didn't tell us about this?"

"Because I don't like to talk about how I lost my brother," Sasuke said, "And the reason I left the military."

"The reason you left the Military is because of your brother?" Lee asked.

"Yes," Sasuke said, "He's been M.I.A. for the past five years."

"Tell us about it." Tsunade said.

"This is a painful subject for me," Sasuke said, "But ok."

"Keep it short." Tsunade said.

"I had been a Sergeant for little under a year now," Sasuke said, "It was my second year in the Rangers, during the Insurgency in Ukraine, the Ukrainian government called the U.S. for help, and we responded with weapons, vehicles, and even troops until it got to the point in which we were actively shooting at the insurgents. I had been enlisted in my big brother, Itachi's squad since I joined, and it was good, fighting alongside my brother got me the Medal of Honor."

"Skip ahead to the Incident." Tsunade said.

"I was getting to that," Sasuke snapped, "Sorry, this is a serious subject with me."

"Understandable," Tsunade said, "Keep going."

"Anyway, the Incident," Sasuke said, "We were dispatched on an intelligence gathering operation to a small area a couple miles outside of Enerhodar, near Dniprorudne. Reports were that the insurgents were using the Kakhovs'ke Reservoir to drop their troops behind our lines to sneak attack us."

"And?" Shino asked.

You looked around, and you could tell people were interested in the story.

"We got there, and we went on our patrol," Sasuke said, "It was snowing heavily. Eventually we came across this strange mist, cloudy as hell, and grey as ash. We thought it might be due to radiation left over from the Chernobyl Disaster, while the radiation has gradually died off, it still has some effects on the environment. Grey snow being one of them. It wasn't until we saw them that we knew something was up."

"Well," Kakashi asked, "What happened?"

"It was a setup," Sasuke said, "The youngest one of us panicked, and opened fire on the figures in the mist. They jumped so high I lost track of them above us," he then pointed to the back of his head, "Someone hit me from behind, and I face-planted into the snow. I kept slipping in and out of consciousness but I saw my friends shooting at everything around me, I saw several of them fall to the ground, and above all, I saw them, the same creatures that killed Naruto's unit in Tajikistan, I saw one of their patches. When I finally came too, the mist was gone, my entire squad was dead, and Itachi was missing."

"Shit man," Lee said, "I can see why you had that reaction when you saw them in Tajikistan."

"What happened after?" Sakura asked.

"I radioed in," Sasuke said, "When they picked me up there were so many questions I had. And they had a lot of questions, but after seeing our shoulder-camera footage, all suspicion turned away from me. The Army said they saw intelligence pictures of my brother in Paris, London, Tokyo, Bangkok, Singapore, and even New York, but there was no proof. After a year, Itachi's trail went cold, and he was gone. When I heard they stopped looking I resigned, I left for that island, and tried to make peace with my past."

"That's why you left," Sakura said, "You felt they gave up."

"They did," Sasuke said, "I tried to find him myself for a while, but everywhere he went, I had found there was no evidence."

"I'm sorry," Tsunade said, "I can't bring your brother back, but I can offer you a chance to get even. Join Konoha, and I'll see you get your revenge."

"You want me to sign up to a PMC," Sasuke asked, "If it means I can get payback, then you don't have to ask me twice."

"Great," Tsunade said, "I'm promoting you to the rank of Major, you and Naruto will take command of the base's primary strike forces."

"Really?" Sasuke asked.

"Yea," Tsunade said, "Naruto was the primary Major before you came along, and now here you are."

"Come on," Naruto said as he stood up, "Let's get a beer."

"Hell yea," Shino said as he slapped Sasuke on the back, "Come on Major."

Sasuke, Shino, and Lee went back to the main platform to a small door where upon entering there were several soldiers sitting down, laughing, drinking, and playing various types of games.

As they entered someone shouted, "TEN-HUT," and they all shot into attention.

"Thank you," Naruto said as he looked around at the men, "I am…"

"Sorry sir," one of the soldiers said, "But we weren't standing at attention for you."

Naruto looked at Sasuke, "As I was saying," Naruto said, "I am here on the invite of Major Uchiha, who will forthwith will be staying on base."

"Alright," someone exclaimed as everyone started clapping.

Shino, Naruto, and Lee brought Sasuke back to their booth in the corner while everyone sitting down started talking about him being on the base.

One of the bartenders came over, she was very beautiful, about five foot three, long blonde hair tied up in a pony-tail, and had very pale bluish-green eyes with no pupils.

"Shino, Naruto Lee," Ino said before her attention went to Sasuke, "Sorry sir," she salted Sasuke like a true soldier would salute a General, "I didn't see you there."

"At ease," Sasuke said, "I'm off duty, no need to salute me."

"Of course," Ino said, "What can I get you boys?"

"Three beers." Shino said.

"Make it four," Sai said as he walked up behind Ino, "Hey babe."

"Sai," Ino said as she looked back, and smiled.

"Mind if I join you guys?" Sai asked.

"Sure," Lee said as he motioned to the seat next to him.

"And for you, sir," Ino asked as Sai sat next to Lee.

"Whiskey," Sasuke said, "Make it a double."

"Coming right up," Ino said as she walked back to the bar to get the drinks.

After returning, and setting their drinks down, Sasuke raised his glass, "Job well done." He said.

"Job well done," everyone said as they held up their drinks.

Sasuke downed the drink in one gulp, and placed it on the table.

After a few drinks, Sasuke was escorted to the Commanding Officer Quarters section of the base.

It was a little curious why his name was on the face of the door, but then again, he wasn't complaining, he took the clearance card he got when he signed up, inserted it into the card slot, and unlocked the door.

As he entered he saw the room was pretty well equipped, a bed, a full bathroom, a California King sized bed, a desk, and a good view out of the window.

Shrugging off his jacket, and hanging it up in his closet which was already full of his things, he walked into his bathroom where he shrugged off the rest of his clothes, and stepped into the shower.

As he took his shower, the images from the previous day still rang strongly in his mind.

Those creatures in the mist, who did they work for, did they even have a master, and what were they?

He decided to sleep on it, while he slept on it, he started thinking about that battle years ago, his brother missing, the speculation by the Army, and the internal struggle to do something while his brother probably rotted away in some hellhole where the fed him dog food.

The next morning, Sasuke awoke to find Naruto waiting for him, "Morning," he said as he walked up to his friend.

"The doctor cleared you?" Sasuke asked.

"Sakura gave me a clean bill of health," Naruto said, "I'm back on duty, all thanks to you."

"What are brothers for?" Sasuke asked.

"Come on," Naruto said, "Let's get some breakfast."

Sasuke and Naruto walked into the mess hall, when they entered someone exclaimed, "Ten-Hut!"

Everyone in the Mess-Hall shot into attention, "At ease," Sasuke said as he waved his hand.

Sasuke and Naruto chose their breakfast, for Sasuke a pair of waffles with a two sausage patties on top, and smothered in cream gravy.

For Naruto a traditional Japanese breakfast of a rolled omelet with a side of rice.

As they were eating, Shino and Lee joined them, "Majors," he said, "We wondered if you two were in here."

"This was one of Naruto's favorite places back in College," Sasuke said, "I'm surprised this isn't the one place you can always find him on base.

"Really?" Shino asked.

"By the way Major," Lee said, "We were wondering if you wouldn't mind showing us a few pointers."

"We? You mean you," Shino asked, "You want him to show you a few pointers on how to be a better shot."

"I don't mind," Sasuke said, "After breakfast we'll head to the range."

After the four of them had finished breakfast, they walked to the range.

The men grabbed their weapons, Sasuke's M1911, Shino's M9A3, Lee's Glock 19, and Naruto grabbed a Sig Sauer P226.

As the four stood in line at the range, they fired.

Sasuke ran out of ammo first, but the proof was in the pudding: four shots in the chest, three in the head.

Naruto managed to shoot the target everywhere that would kill a man.

Shino managed to hit the target in various areas around the target, but he was not as bad as Lee.

Lee's bullets were more spread-out, and a few of them didn't even make it into the black area of the target.

"Ok," Sasuke said as he took Lee's target, "As we can see, you need to work on your accuracy."

"I know." Lee said.

"Alright," Sasuke said as he pointed at the new target, "We're going to reset," he handed Lee's unloaded Glock back to him, "Show me how you handle the gun."

Lee walked up to the target, he held his right hand straight out, and his left arm was sort of chicken-winged (by that I mean it was rather severely bent outwards).

"This is going to be great." Shino said.

"Ok, here's your first problem," Sasuke said as he tapped Lee's left arm, "This chicken-wing grip won't work," he took Lee's Glock from his hand, "What you want to do is get into a position where the recoil is going to be absorbed by the shoulders," he waved his hand over his shoulders, "What you want to do first, is get a good stance," he stood with his legs slightly bent, and facing straight forward, "Then a grip where the recoil isn't going to be as severe," he held the Glock in both hands with his shoulders locked, and his arms fully extended, "Something like this," he handed the Glock back to Lee, and a full-magazine, "Now try."

Lee took aim using the same stance Sasuke showed him, and there was an improvement, the grouping of his shots was a big tighter.

"See," Sasuke asked as he held up the target, "Much better."

A few hours later, the team gathered in the briefing room where Tsunade was waiting, "It seems that tip you gave us about Kyoto was right Uchiha," she said, "We did a little research on the Gears. Ever since the collapse of the system, the United States has decided to sell off some of their surplus Gekkos."

"Why would they do that?" Naruto asked.

"Because they didn't remove the old A.I. that controlled the Gekkos before the system was hacked by Liquid Ocelot," Sasuke said, "They just rewrote it in order to not piss off the contractor that made the Gekkos."

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Because the contract that makes the Gekkos also makes 45% of the U.S. Army's pistols, shotguns, rifles, and machine guns," Sasuke said, "If he learned that they scrapped the Gekkos altogether, he could tear up his contract with the U.S. Army, and the U.S. would lose a valuable contract, and they cannot afford to appear weak."

"That's correct Major," Tsunade said, "So they rewrote the system. However, most of that old A.I.'s system still remains. We managed to get in touch with the company that shipped the packages, and we found where they went, a small mountain town in Tajikistan. They've agreed to pay big if we find who fooled them into committing fraud."

"Then let's get a move on." Sasuke said.

Sasuke got dressed in his battle attire, while he was on the VTOL Naruto noticed he was scrapping the polymer around the steel toe off with his knife.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"Something I learned a few years ago," Sasuke said as he inserted the magazine into his rifle, checked the action, and with one simple slap, the magazine fell out of the rifle onto the floor, "Doing this allows for faster reloading which means less time worrying."

As they were preparing their weapons, Tsunade walked up to the entrance to the VTOL, "I just got word from our Agents back in Tajikistan," she said, "Word about Naruto's rescue has reached the Akatsuki. In short, they're going to be on a heightened sense of alert."

"Which means getting to those shipping labels is going to be even more difficult." Naruto said.

"Thank you," Sasuke said, "We'll be careful."

"Good lucky boys." Tsunade said.

Guess what happens next…