This is my first story so enjoy. This is a fanfiction, ergo i do not own any of the characters, places, ect. This takes place after the first arc in Naruto Shippuden. I am so happy to finally have this up because it took me forever to write...
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Chapter 1

A gentle wind blew through the small village. A few ninjas patrolled the dark borders. The Village Hidden in the Ash was a small shinobi village in the Land of Wind. The breeze blew, causing autumn leaves to fall to the soot covered ground. Unlike most areas in the desert-like Land of Wind, the Village Hidden in Ash was located in a wooded area. This was due to the two rivers that flowed through the area and the rich soil the came from the four dormant volcanoes that surrounded the village. The rustling leaves masked the sound of the group of rouge ninjas waiting just outside the village border. They sat waiting for the signal. Three flashed of light shown from a nearby tree. Another ninja passed the signal along. The attack had begun.

A young kunoichi woke with a start as a male shinobi with long brown hair burst through her bedroom door.

"Rei! Get up, we need to go!" he yelled

The girl rubbed her eyes; trying to wake herself up "What the hell is going on Tobi?" she asked her team mate.

"The village is under attack! We need to go help. Meet me outside in five minutes." And with that, the shinobi left the room and dashed outside.

Rei jumped out of bed and quickly redressed into her regular outfit: black shorts, black tank-top, and her long black boots. She threw on her dark purple jacket, then attached her bag, which contained a few shurikan and kunai and a small medical kit, to her waist. Finally she strapped her sword to her back and dashed out of the door, putting her long, black hair into a messy bun as she ran.

An explosion shook the ground as she ran outside. A few houses were on fire and a tree came crashing through the roof of the building next door. Rei and Tobi ran through the village taking out a few enemies as they went. Civilians ran from burning buildings and dead bodies lay in the street. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. Rei dug her nails into the palm of her hand. Who could do such a thing? What could they want? she thought to herself. The two shinobi made their way to the center of the village. It did not look good as Rei and her partner approached the front line. The enemy forces contained at least 80 men by the looks of it. Their village was small, containing only about 34 shinobi. Rei and Tobi quickly joined the fight. Rei felt the slight decrease in her chakra as she turned her long silver nails into ten-inch daggers, a special jutsu of hers. She shot the daggers from her right hand, taking out two of the enemies. They quickly grew back and she stabbed another enemy who was about to hit Tobi. Tobi fought off three more enemies with his twin, poison swords.

They continued to fight but no matter how many shinobi they killed, there were always more to take their place. They had now been fighting for over an hour. Crimson blood dripped from Rei's fingers. A shinobi had put a long, deep gash across the bridge of her nose. She could taste the blood as it dripped down her face. The enemy forces were now pushing them back. Another shinobi put a long cut on her left arm forcing so she jumped to the back where she quickly bandaged it to stop the bleeding. Tobi appeared by her side and helped tie the bandage.

"You alright?" he asked

Rei nodded her head and tried to wipe the blood from her face but the gash on her nose wouldn't stop bleeding "What are we going to do Tobi? There are way too many. They now outnumber us three to one. We are not going to last much longer"

"I don't know but we have to think of something"

Rei jumped out of the way as a kunai suddenly flew towards her, a large explosive tag was wrapped around the handle. Rei felt Tobi smash into her, tackling her to the ground away from the bomb. He lay over her, shielding her from the explosion. There was a blinding flash and a lot of heat. She got up as fast as she could and turned Tobi over.

"Reiko?" coughed Tobi, "Are... are you alright?"

"Shit! Tobi listen to me, your going to be fine. I'll get you out of here so just hold on"

"Rei...no, you have to get out of here now!" he said as he grabbed her hand.

"No! Don't be stupid. You know I won't leave you here to die!"

"Rei, please listen to me. I want you to leave me. You have to get out of here while you can. There are too many of them. We won't make it. I want you to live" his hand slipped out of hers.

"Tobi! No!"

"Go...please. I love you Reiko..." he coughed

"I love you too Tobi" said Rei as the only person she had ever cared about died in her arms. A single tear rolled down her face.

Another explosion off to the side brought Reiko back to the battle. She kissed Tobi one last time then darted into the forest. She kept running until she came to a small clearing. She couldn't run any farther so she sat down at the base of a large tree to catch her breath. She knew she needed to get away. She told Tobi she would.

There was a rustle in the trees and five ninjas jumped down into the clearing. On normal circumstances she would have been able to take them, but she was hurt and low on chakra.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" said the man in front, "Did you get scarred and run off like a little girl? Ha! Some ninja you are!" he laughed

"Shut the F**k up!" yelled Rei as she threw a kunai, hitting the man in the throat. He clutched his neck and fell to the ground. The others he was with charged at Rei. She got up just in time to block an attack with her sword. She quickly cut off the head of the second man. His blood wet her blade and sprayed the men behind him. The third man came at her and put a deep cut on the outside of her thigh. She yelled in pain and rage as she stabbed him through the chest. She finished off the next man in a similar way. She stumbled as she put her weight on her injured leg. The last man used this as a chance to attack and he stabbed the kunoichi in the side.

She yelled as the blade went into her side. She felt the tip of the sword bury itself into her rib and then retreat back as the man pulled away. She smashed the butt of her sword into the man's temple and he crumpled lifelessly to the ground. Rei stumbled over to another tree and slid to a sitting position. She held her hand over the wound in her side. Warm blood oozed over her fingers. Her vision became blurred. She knew she was loosing too much blood. She reached into the pocket on the inside of her pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. She turned it over in her hand to see a picture of Tobi smiling at her. Another wave of pain washed over her and she clenched her fist, wrinkling the small photo. She fell onto the cold ground. "Shit! I'm sorry Tobi..." she said as she blacked out.

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Well hopefully that wasn't too bad. I enjoyed writing it at least. Please let me know what you think. If you hated it, let me know why. If you thought it was an epic failure, let me know why. If you enjoyed it (hopefully you did) let me know why. I had written this chapter and the next 5 all in one night (so i stayed up till 6 in the morning. Yay!) so I will have them up soon... or now, depending on when you are reading this :)
~Reiko