She couldn't hear much other than the clack, clack, clack of her standard shinobi shoes and the thudding of her heartbeat in her ears as she ran. The scroll was in her hand and she ran through the woods towards the village. She had been running for three days, being pursed the majority of the way. She had lost them yesterday but they seemed to have found her again. She wasn't sure what country they were from but she knew what they were after. And there was one way to get it.
Over her dead body.
She had already been injured, making it difficult to run. But even so, she could still outrun them. Every time she began to lose stamina, she popped a pill designed to give her that little boost. At this point, the pills and her adrenaline were all that kept her going. It was her best bet at survival at this point. She was small but sturdy. However, in her state it would be reckless to take on five of them on her own. What she lacked in physical strength, she made up for in speed and agility. The anbu were quiet, but she was one of the quietest which made her perfect for this type of mission.
It was not supposed to go this way.
It was a simple snatch and grab, she's done it a million times and hasn't gotten in this bad of a situation in years. Someone tipped them off.
No sooner had she thought that, a kunai struck the back of her thigh. She missed her step and fell in a roll, struggled to get up, and kept running. As she ran, she noticed the trees around her became warped and seemed to move. Poison. She veered off to the side and jumped into a tree. She pulled the kunai out and put it in her pouch before pulling out a small vial with a needle attached. She took a dep breath in, stabbed her thigh, and pressed the plunger. This antidote was fast but it was painful. Fire seemed to spread through her and she couldn't help but it tense up, and almost convulse. After a few seconds, she could relax and move again. She barely got out of the way of the barrage of kunai and shuriken thrown at her. She hit the dirt road running. She was maybe a mile from the village…they should have backed off by now. Usually, pursuers tend to stop three miles out to avoid conflict. The ballsy ones stop around this distance.
Her heart raced as her vision slowly became better but the burning still lingered. She pushed forward, she needed to make it to the hokage. More weapons were thrown at her and she dodged most of them. After about four minutes of full out sprinting, the gates of the village were in her sights. There were two shinobi on guard and she called out to them.
"Heads up!" She shouted before sprinting through the gates. Another Kunai dug into her shoulder. She kept running but looked over she shoulder. The two guards were fighting two of her assailants. Three more followed her into the fucking village. She would have to take a different route.
She jumped up onto the roofs. She needed to keep them away from civilians.
She ran through the city, her attackers hot on her trails. One leaf shinobi took one of her followers on. People looked up from the street, watching her run. She passed by a small area with a bridge. Three genin and their teacher looked up. She kept running. She wasn't about to ask genin to help if she couldn't handle them.
"What's going on?" Naruto asked as they watched the anbu head their way. As they passed, Kakashi saw the enemy shinobi following close behind.
"Stay here." Kakashi ordered roughly before jumping and taking on one of the attackers.
"No way!" Naruto shouted. "He can't just expect us to do nothing!" Naruto shouted and jumped up, going for another enemy ninja.
"Naruto!" sasuke called out angrily before jumping after him. Sakura followed quickly. The three genin were taking on an assailant and Kakashi took care of his relatively quickly. The two guards from earlier along with Might Guy joined him on the roof.
"What the hell is going on?" Kakashi asked.
"She ran through with them on her tail." One of the guards answered.
"We could only stop two." The other answered.
"How many were there?" Guy asked. The first guard shook his head.
"Not sure, about six?" He answered. A large crash sounded and they looked to see Naruto had kicked his opponent into the ground so hard it left a dent. The man didn't move.
"Way to go, Naruto!" Sakura cheered. The three made their way back to their teacher.
"You said about six?" Kakashi asked. They nodded. "There should be at least on more."
"Let's split up." Guy suggested. "We need to make sure no one else slipped in. Alert the rest of the shinobi."
"You three," Kakashi said, turning to his team. "Go to Lady Tsunade and explain to her what is happening, that an anbu ninja has returned with enemies on her tail."
"Won't they beat us there?" Sakura asked.
"Not if it's who I think it is." He explained. "Stick together and be careful. Go." They nodded and moved out.
She jumped from building to building. She was running low on energy but she didn't think leading them to the hokage was wise. Her leg gave out on one of the roofs and she could feel him closing in. She pulled out her short katana and blocked his attack. She pushed him away and he fell off the building. She took this opportunity to run again. He caught up with her quickly and tackled her. She used her feet to push him over her head but he grabbed the scroll. He tried to run but she grabbed his ankle and pulled him back. She straddled him and delivered three quick blows to his face before grabbing the scroll and running again. She heard him move and jumped away, running to the Hokage's tower. She felt another presence behind her and looked. Another shinobi had stepped in to take on this person.
Hoping that was the last of them, she high tailed it to the tower. Thank you, Guy. She thought to herself. She was running low on time and energy. She needed to see Lady Tsunade and fast. She saw the tower before her and Jumped up. The only thing in her way was the window.
Kakshi ran into the room and was relieved to see all of his team there with Tsunade and Shizune. He apologized for interrupting.
"All threats have been neutralized." He informed her, "at least the ones we could find."
"Then were the hell is my operative?" Tsunade demanded. The universe heard her demand and the Anbu crashed through the window behind her. Everyone dove out of the way as the anbu flew over the desk. She landed hard on the floor and rolled until she hit the wall. The scroll was still in her hand and she wasn't letting go. Her vision blurred and darkness crept in. Her body relaxed ad her grip loosened.
"She sure knows how to make an entrance." Naruto commented under his breathe.
"Do you think she's ok?" Sakura asked. Tsunade walked over to her, Shizune in tow. Before they got there, Kakashi bent down to grab the scroll. The moment it moved in her hand, there was the tip of a blade under his chin. She moved faster than they could see. She was sitting up, short sword ready to go straight through his head and the scroll was clutched to her chest. Kakashi put his hands up and slowly backed away. She stood up and removed the sword, ,putting it away.
"Sorry, Kakashi, it's been a long week." She said and she straightened up. "Lady Tsunade, I have what you sked for."
"I was starting to get worried." Tsunade said. "It was only supposed to take a few days and you dragged in strays. What the hell happened?" The anbu looked around the room.
"I would like to speak with you in private." She answered, handing over the scroll. Kakshi turned to his students.
"Why don't you three go home for the day?"
"What?" Naruto shouted. "But we didn't get any training today!"
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura told him through grit teeth as she tried to drag him away. They had just gotten through the door when the anbu ninja swayed and collapsed, knocking her mask off. She convulsed for a few seconds before stilling. Tsunade and Shizune were looking her over. Shizune looked in her bag. She found he empty pill container and syringe.
"Lady Tsunade." She said and held up the containers. "She used all of it."
"What on earth would possess her to do that?" Tsunade asked. "She knew the risks of it." Shizune could only shrug. "Sakura, come here. You're going to get a little training today. Help Shizune get her to the hospital, I'll be there shorty."
Once the room was cleared, Tsunade looked at the scroll. There was a small piece of paper taped to it.
They knew -S