The twelfth day after Tsunade and Dan embarked on their mission seemed different than the rest. The group seemed out of synch, constantly leaving weak spots that simple chuunin would recognize. Tsunade was dumbfounded that Sarutobi would send them out with such rookies; She knew it wouldn't be long before they were ambushed. Her suspicions were confirmed when one of the shinobi traveling with them was cut down in the blink of an eye. The Iwa nin came so quickly that the sensory type that was with them had not noticed, which in itself was peculiar. The fact that so many were able to sneak up on them was definitely not right. Before she could even sort her thoughts, kunai and shuriken flew past her face, many with paper bombs attached to them. Tsunade dodged them with agility she was unaware she had and rushed back into the action. They were extremely outnumbered, at least 6:1, and had mostly long distance specialists.
Right. My luck. She thought as she fought to get close in order to land a hit.
There was no running here, not with this many enemies. She engaged one after another, being forced to use tactics she wasn't used to in order to keep her team's backs covered. Upon busying herself with one ninja, another appeared in her blind spot. The large stone appearing from the earth as if to swallow her up.
"Tsunade!" Dan yelled before crashing into her with enough speed to knock her out of the way. They tumbled to the ground, landing beneath the brush.
"Are you ok?" He asked her. Tsunade's eyes widened. He was bloody, and she could tell by inspection alone that he already had many broken ribs.
"Dan, don't move...let me heal you first." She reached her arms to him, focusing her chakra into her hands, only to have them swatted away.
"There's no time for that now. Our comrades are dying! Cover for me, I'm going to use the Ghost Transformation."
He sat up carefully, already weaving signs before she could get two words out. Before she knew it, his body went limp and shortly after an Iwa nin to their right fell to the ground in a heap. She couldn't watch for too long, however, before three ninja appeared behind her. Tsunade was done. She'd had it with these intruders, and she wasn't about to let them take any more of her people.
Without hesitation, she charged into battle, moving so quickly she landed a direct hit on one of them before he could even react, shattering his bones and killing him instantly. Wiping his blood off of her hand, she whipped out a kunai and twirling it in her finger, stared the other two down.
"Who's next?" she tauntingly called out.
The two ninja swallowed nervously. This woman wasn't one of the Densetsu no Sannin for nothing. As she charged again, one of the shinobi jumped backward; creating distance between him and Tsunade. He began weaving signs as the other kept her busy in hand-to-hand. Her rage made her sloppy and she wasn't as aware of the activity going on around her.
As his earth style came barreling at her, Tsunade jumped out of the way and went for the user; forgetting that as she did so, she left Dan vulnerable. Realizing this at about the same time, the second ninja lunged at Dan's body. The next few moments felt like an eternity. It was as if everything moved in slow motion. She was so focused at what was happening on the ground that she forgot all that was happening right next to her. The airborne ninja proceeded to strike her in the head, sending her plummeting back toward the earth. Realizing that this was his only chance to escape with his life, the first ninja fled, calling most of the platoon to retreat. They disappeared; all except for the one going for Dan. Nothing mattered now. She didn't care she was bleeding, and she didn't care that the enemy got away with their information. All that mattered right now was getting to Dan before it was too late.
Forcing herself to stand despite the ringing in her ears and her quickly blurring vision, Tsunade ran towards him, stumbling and fighting for her own consciousness. Taking one last lunge, she plunged her kunai into the back of the Iwagakure ninja just after she witnessed his jutsu impale Dan's stomach and his spirit return to his sputtering body. They locked eyes for just a moment before the enemy fell at her feet and Dan sunk to the ground.
No.
Everything was a blur after that. The next thing she knew was she was next to him, pouring every ounce of chakra she could muster into his dying body. The rain wasn't helping her cause; heck, when did it even start raining? It didn't matter.
He was bleeding out and she knew it.
He was going to die here and she knew it.
"You're going to be alright, Dan! Just hold on!" She kept pouring her chakra into him, tears filling her eyes to the brim. The bleeding wouldn't stop, and Dan's eyes slowly shut.
"DAN!" She gave a final push, the green glow of her chakra still illuminating the coming nightfall. Becoming hysterical, she kept shouting for the bleeding to stop, tears dripping onto the wound along with the rain.
"That's enough! He's dead!" One of the ninja with her shouted, afraid of being discovered with her loud cries.
She froze, staring at her blood covered hands and at the lifeless body of her lover in front of her. Finally letting go, she sobbed into her hands and took one last look at his face before her world went dark.