With gasping, heaving breaths Naruko sprinted through the foliage. Tears streaked her bloodied face as she forced herself onward, clutching her tattered, brutally ripped clothing to herself. Her sobs were drowned out by the sound of the blood rushing through her ears. Flight or Fight had taken comtrol, and having chose the latter, she raced on with a speed that came from desperation. She screamed for help. Falling to her knees the blond curled into a feal position, rocking back and forth. A terrible trembling had taken her voice away. Her beaten body was a bloody, bruised mess.

After all, he had to be convincing.

Confused? Good. All things are as they should be. Moving right along…

Naruko sobbed and clutched her knees tight to herself. A soft russel, just barely audible, sounded someone's presence. Naruto pretended not to notice, and continued to hold himself.

"Sister?"

A featherlight touch on Naruko's back. She screamed, flinching so hard she fell forward and onto her side. Scrambling away from whatever had touched her, she looked up with terrified, paralyzed, eyes. Her gaze met with two concerned blue eyes. The tall stranger crouched down, her long silver hair flowing down her back and onto the ground. She was dressed in long sleeve black under armor with an anbu chest guard, a pair of loose blask pants that reached halfway down her calf, and no shoes. Naruto wondered how she got the anbu torso armor. Naruko looked up at her with big azure eyes, terror flashing within them. The stranger outstreached a hand to the blonde, who wimpered and pulled away.

"It is alright, my sister. I am Senshi. I will protect you."

She had obviously already realized what had happened to the shivering girl. Naruko's eyes widened in shock. "No!" She cried. "You must leave! Th- the men that attacked us, they are much to strong!" Senshi's eyes narrowed the moment the word 'men' left Naruko's mouth. Her blue eyes flashed in anger. "You said 'us.' Are there others?" Tears again began to fall. "Yes- but it's too late for them now. It is too late for me now. Our village will never believe us. But you can still run! Those beasts havn't preyed on you yet." A rumbling sound, growning closer. Shouts. "No…" Naruko whispered, her eyes overflowing and filled with pure terror. Senshi brandished a sword from its place across her back. "Don't worry. Once I deal with the 'men'," She spat the word like a curse, "I will take you and and any surviving members somewhere safe."

'Yes!' Naruto thought. He knew it would work. All he needed to do now was get his teamates involved, tell his tale, and he'd be in. It was all up to Yamato now.

Naruko struggled to her feet, attempting to get into a battle stance. The attackers crashed through the brush and charged with a yell. Before they could finish their battle cry, all four of them were on the ground, in two pieces or more. Naruko looked shocked. Shinshi cleaned her blade with her pant leg and sheathed it. She turned to the blonde. "We must go to your friends." Naruko shook her head to clear it. Stumbling forward, she was steadied by the silver haired woman. "You are in no condition to go on." Pulling a flute out from inside her shirt, she played one, clear note.

Moments later, another girl fell from the sky. The girl had similar silver hair, yellow eyes, and-what was that- a tail? Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a large section of bangs hanging down each side of her face. Her smile fell into a grimace as she gave Naruko an up and down. Her eyes flickered to Senshi. "What happened?" The older girl shook her head. "Now is not the time, Hane. Take her to Base. I need to find her companions." A nod. "Wait," Naruko called out, wavering on her feet. "There by the rocks…by the…"

And then she saw no more.

.............0

Naruko snapped awake, but knowing a traumatized girl who might-have-just-been-raped would not leap out of bed, she made it seem as though her consciousness returned slowly. Groaning, she rolled over. Muttering above her head. She cracked an eye open. Four faces stared down at her. She recognized two, Hane and Senshi. As for the others…Naruko snapped her eyes open and struggled to get up, trying to get away. A calm hand on her shoulder acted almost like a sedative. The hand belonged to a woman with blond hair that fell down her back before being tied in a loose pony. Wild, Frantic eyes darted from face to face.

"Do not fear, child. You are safe from your pursuers."

Releif washed over Naruko like a wave. Her eyes, streaming with tears of gratitude, thanks the women with words she couldn't find. Four soft smiles and a grin were the response. Hane shifted so she was sitting at the end of the bed, her legs crossed. The tip of her thick ponytail just barely brushed the warm cotton sheets of the bed. Leaning forward, she said, "Would you like to stay here for a while? We don't know what happened to you, but…" She trailed off, staring Naruko right in the eyes. A shaky sigh. Naruko struggled to lift herself into an upright position, almost laughing when all of the occupants of the room attempted to assist her.

"We were tricked-! Wait! What about my cell? Are they alright?"

'Well of course they are' Naruto thought to himself, rolling his eyes. 'now I just have to find out where they are and-…?'

The swell of sadness, regret, and hatred in the room suddenly dawned on Naruto.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Naruko asked, her voice trembling. Senshi turned her head away, ashamed. The others looked at her with sympathy and shame. "Where are my friends?" The confusion in Naruko's voice was real now, as Naruto had no idea what in the hell was going on. They-Kiba, Shikamaru, Lee, and Choji- were supposed to have gotten in too! What in the hell was going on!?! "I am sorry to say your friends didn't make it." There was a pause as the blond woman assessed the seemingly stunned girl. "When Senshi arrived…it was too late." Nothing. A dark haired woman put a hand on her shoulder. "We are so very sorry for your loss. We have buried your companions in the gardens. It is a high honor here in Base. They died in battle, a most fitting death for any woman." Naruto AND Naruko made a choking sound.

"T-this cant be right. They were supposed to be here with me! We were supposed to do this together! Their not dead! They ran away, or-!"

Naruko slumped back against the bed, totally and completely confused. This was NOT how the mission had supposed to happen. Where were those asshats? Then, realizing all eyes were on her, Naruko cleared her throat and spoke, making sure her voice cracked every now and then. "My cell and I were called in to the forest by our ranking officers. We were told we were going on an A class mission. We were all so excited. When we got- when we got to the designated rendezvous point…" A sob broke through the monolouge, "When we got there, we were jumped and attacked by the others. There were eight of them and only five of us. There was nothing we could do! We fought as hard as we could but we could see the men were winning- our-our group leader Shika told us to run. The-the others didn't but I was so scared I ran and ran untill you found me- If I had been there-!" Racking, agonized sobs shook Naruko's body. Her vision pooled.

"If you had been there, you also would have died. You should not blame yourself, child. Your friends sacrificed themselves for you." Then, with a voice that rang with authourity, the blond woman said, "This young warrior, who has seen the harshness and cruelty of men, will stay with us as our new sister. What is your name?" "Naruko." Her voice was a mumbled squeak. "I am Taiyou. I wish we could have met under better circumstance." Taiyou turned to the girls that had gathered outside the door. "Someone go set a room for our new comrade." Immediately the whole group bowed and scampered off to do as they were told.

Phase one, get noticed by rouge ninjas, Complete

Phase two, get group involved, an epic fail for reasons still unknown

Phase three, get permanent stay at Base, Complete

Now came the hard part. And not the original hard part, the new hard part that had to occur because some idiots didn't do their jobs right.

"Uh, can- can I go to their graves, please?" A kind smile. "Of course Naruko. I will show you to the gardens."

And so it began.

I did a cliff hanger Nee-ner-nee-ner-nee-ner

Haha but yeah if you are very confused all will be revealed… IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!!! MWAHAHA!!

OH AND REVIEW! REVIEWWWWWW!!!

Btw I don't own Naruto…Sasuke does! XD