They ran. There was no other way, they had to run. She thought long and hard about their options and came to the conclusion there were two acceptable answers. They could keep running and hope to make it back to the village without being killed by the surviving Akatsuki members that were pursuing them. Or they she could stay and fight and let her comrades live. The second option seemed to be the best saving Kakashi, Yamato, Sakura, Sai, and Naruto's lives in exchange for her own rather than risk them all getting killed. She was part of the reason they were being pursued anyway, you see {y/n} wasn't a normal girl she was the the shinobi who hosted the ten-tails {favorite/animal}(f/a). Her mind made up, she landed on a limb but didn't continue jumping. Her team noticed her stop, and went to the limb noting the seriousness in her {e/c} orbs as well as the frown that tugged at her usually upturned lips. "{y/n} what are you doing? We have to keep moving!" Kakashi stated with concern and confusion etched into his visible visage. "I have a plan that you are all going to follow, please understand this is not a request it is an order" the authority in her usually soft voice caught them off guard but they nodded regardless. "I am going to stay and fight, I want you to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible, no questions asked" {y/n} stated, her features unsettlingly calm. "{Y/n} are you crazy there is no way in hell I'm leaving you here now stop being stubborn lets go!" Naruto said though his voice lacked the authority his statement held because he knew her mind was made up. There was no changing it. She smiled softly and placed her lips on his. He could feel the love and affection behind the kiss, but that didn't comfort him it only scared him more. "I'll be right behind you as soon as I take care of them but you have to go" she stated staring into his beautiful oceanic orbs which were now filled with more worry than before. "Now go!" She shouted pointing in the direction they had been heading before they had come to a halt. He opened his mouth to respond but quickly closed it seeing the stern look she wore. He gently rested his forehead on hers for a moment before turning around and following the rest of the team after Kakashi's order to keep up with them. She smiled sadly then darted off in the direction they had just been running from with all their might. After a while of running Naruto recalled something {y/n} had said once.
~Flashback~
"{y/n} you're back!" A certain blonde boy yelled happily hugging the {h/c} haired girl tightly ignoring her complaints. "I told I'd be back didn't I?" She questioned with a smile finding its way to her lips. "No, no you didn't!" Naruto stated. "I may not have said it but my kiss should have told you" she stated giggling at his confused reaction. "What?" He asked, totally confused by her words. She sighed, "If I were to leave and not come back, for whatever reason, I wouldn't leave you with some lousy cheek kiss like I did." She stated matter-of-factly. "Ohhh ok, I get it now, you cheek kiss me when your gonna come back and lip kiss when your not." "Yes silly" He beamed at her as she shook her head, chuckling at his response and how proud he sounded to understand what she meant.
~Flashback Over~
Naruto's eyes widened in realization. They had to go back, he had to save her. As he was about to tell his comrades his decision the ten-tails suddenly appeared, breaching over the trees far behind them. They came to yet another halt and stared in awe and horror, the Akatsuki had pushed her so far she had to rely on her tailed beast. They knew when they saw the large {f/a} {y/n} used only as a last resort roar in pain that they had to go to her in hopes of saving her or at least to know what befell her. As they rushed back, time and the forest around them seemed to rush by, the only thought on everyone's mind was "Please be ok {y/n}!" When they neared the beast it suddenly disappeared, startling and instilling fear in each of their hearts. Naruto would've rushed into the open had Kakashi not grabbed his arm and pulled him into the cover of the dwindling trees. In the clearing in front of them nearing the edge of a cliff which had a steep drop leading to the savage rapids of a river stood {y/n} and I front of her stood the Akatsuki. They stood proud with anger clearly showing on their faces, they were injured, some worse than others, but none of them were unscathed. To say {y/n} was beat up would be an understatement. She was badly wounded with a gash in her left side, a scorched right shoulder, and deep slashes in her back among other wounds that were hard to define do to the fact she was covered in blood, not all of it being her own thankfully. She had a kunai in her left hand and her right hand was holding her side in attempt to slow the loss of blood. Her {h/c} locks that had been in a bun earlier now hung down, the corners of her lips turned slightly down her eyes resembling those of a cornered animal prepared to fight to the bitter end. As her now steely {e/c} eyes scanned her opponents figures assessing and watching their every movement they made contact with familiar cerulean ones. 'No that can't be him!' She thought, her mind racing though her body stayed unmoving as she contained her emotions in fear of drawing attention to him. As she assessed the situation she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, she quickly realized it was Pain approaching her showing no sign of caution, staring her directly in the eye as though mocking or insulting her. She growled inhumanly and threw the kunai at his feet, warning him to not come closer. He stopped to her relief but her relief was short lived as he picked the kunai up inspecting it then quickly throwing it back at her, successfully striking her lower thigh. She gasped in pain going down on the other knee as she gritted her teeth and pulled the kunai out letting out a strangled cry as she did so, blood pouring from the wound. By the time she looked up it was to late, Pain was directly in front of her and grabbed her by her throat slamming her into the ground knocking the air out of her already tired lungs. She glared up at him with a look of pure disdain as she spit bloody saliva in his face with a smug smirk on her own visage. His face scrunched in disgust as he wiped it with his sleeve giving her the opportunity she had been waiting for. She molded what little chakra she had left and formed a chakra bomb sending Pain and the other Akatsuki flying back as she stood up tall and proud with her head held high. What she did next made her teammates hearts ache.
She backed up to the very edge of the cliff and looked over her shoulder down at the raging river below. She gulped and looked back at the Akatsuki that were quickly regrouping in front of her weary form. She looked back at those beautiful blue eyes she fell in love with seeing his panicked and pained expression. She looked at him calmly and gave him her best smile, not because she was happy about how she knew this was going to end but because she knew if he saw the tears that were threatening to spill from her beautiful {e/c} eyes he would break. She mouthed the words she knew he needed to hear before she went "I love you". She then took the final step back and as the wind rushed past her and she saw his tear streaked face and heard his cry, she smiled. She knew there was nothing she could do now but wait for the rush of water but even as she the tears began to finally spill over, she still smiled.
