"No!" I cried out. "Don't kill him!"

"It must be done, Naya. The disposal of this missing-nin will mean peace for this village. Now, move aside!" Danzo glowered at me.

I moved in front of my friend. Arms outstretched, I yelled back. "No! I won't!"

"You dare disobey your Hokage?!" snarled Danzo.

"Yes. I dare. You won't claim another Uchiha life! Never again!"

Danzo turned to the mass of shinobi who were assembled behind him. "This girl has betrayed Konoha! Kakashi, destroy her at once!"

I watched Kakashi-sensei move through the masses of people. I glared at him. "If I have to fight you, I will," I snarled. I felt my sharingan open. "Even if I have to kill you!"

Kakashi-sensei didn't even flinch or blink at my threat. It was… It was…infuriating!

I felt Sasuke feebly grasp my hand. "No, Naya. I'm not worth it. Let them kill me. They'll be doing me a favor," he rasped.

I looked over my clan mate carefully. His white robes were soaked with sweat and dried blood from the previous battle. He had numerous slashes on his arms and a large wound on his chest. His hair was ruffled and bristled and his eyes were dull with weakness and sickness. But this was nothing that couldn't be reversed. "No! You've taken too many lives to just be cut off like this. Now, you must live on for them!"

Kakashi-sensei stared at me with curiosity. I returned his gaze, but mine was a cold glare.

"Naya may have a point," Kakashi noted to Danzo.

"What? Are you mad? She's betrayed our village! She must be killed!" Danzo countered.

"She only fighting for what she believes is right," Kakashi-sensei replied calmly.

"But she is betraying our village at the same time! You must kill her!"

"Teh! You're one to talk," I heard Sasuke mutter.

I nodded in agreement.

"No," Kakashi-sensei replied simply. "I won't."

"Then you must be destroyed as well!" snarled Danzo. He turned to the number of shinobi assembled behind him. "Who will not hesitate to obey your Hokage, and kill these traitors?!"

I heard everyone shifting uneasily. A wave of nervous whispering and muttering swept through the crowds. No one stood to answer the command of Danzo.

"You are all fools! Cowards! Weaklings! You are no longer suited to be called 'true shinobi'!" roared Danzo. His aged face twisted with rage.

"If that is the way of the 'true shinobi', then I'll crush that so-called way of the 'true shinobi'. Just as Obito did," I whispered only loud enough for Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, and Danzo to hear me.

"Naya," Sasuke urgently begged me to listen. "Save yourself. More trouble will only come post to this. Go now! Back down, and save yourself."

"Humph! I once knew the meaning of the words 'back down'. But, I've long since forgotten that. And I'll never remember it again."

"Still! If you stay here, you'll most certainly be killed! Go now!" I sensed his fear, something I'd never felt in him before. My gaze softened into worry as he was pulled into a rough coughing fit that took his breath away.

He may be right. We won't last long, though…I don't want to back down. So which is more important? If I back down, Sakura could heal his injuries, but it would mean that he'd be killed or kept as a prisoner. If I continue to fight, Sasuke will get weaker and we both might…die…

I looked Danzo in the eye and glared at him.

"Enough of this!" Danzo growled, seizing Sasuke's sword from the bloodstained battlefield. Lifting it, so that it glittered a shiny red in the eclipse's light, it cast a long, bloody shadow across the ground. In one, fine movement, Danzo sliced through Kakashi's flack vest, starting at his shoulder and moving diagonally down his body. Blood seeped from the wound and leaked onto the ground. "Well, girl? Will you continue to fight? If you do, I'll kill all who are near and dear to you, one by one."

"Kakashi-sensei!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I stared in horror as my sensei sank to his knees and then to his side. His breathing became shallow and ragged as a spasm wracked his body and left his legs twitching feebly. My eyes stared open, unable to blink. Kakashi's breathing became more and more shallow until it stopped all together. I willed myself to close my eyes. To turn away. Anything, to prevent myself from the horrifying sight of seeing my sensei lying dead in a puddle of blood underneath the scarlet light of the eclipse. "No!" I felt tears present at the corners of my eyes.