"We came in spastic

Like tameless horses

We left in plastic

As numbered corpses"

-Billy Joel, 'Goodnight Saigon'

Disclaimer: I do not claim Naruto or any of the characters in it, nor do I claim the song Goodnight Saigon. Those rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Billy Joel, respectively.

"Naruto?"

Great. Just great.

The date had been going well. WONDERFULLY, actually. He and Hinata had walked all the way to the gates of the city, where a great arrangement of cherry blossom trees and oaks grew side-by-side, creating the strangest colors of sunlight streaming through their branches; and added to that, the already golden sunlight of a setting sun created the most beautiful sky to accent the trees. A breeze had even been blowing through the air as he and Hinata had taken a spot on a bench to enjoy the view.

And right when Hinata had tentatively put her head on his shoulder, RIGHT before he was going to put his head on top of hers...

"Yes, mom?" he asked grumpily.

"Don't use that tone with me!" she said sharply. He was going to retort with the fact that her suddenly calling him had interrupted the precious moment he and his new girlfriend had been about to share...

But there was something about his mothers tone of voice... Something...

"Where are you, Naruto?" she asked quickly. "I need you to come home now. Bring Hinata, if you're still with her. Seriously, WHERE ARE YOU?"

Naruto was a bit taken aback. His mother was certainly not the most laidback of parents, but she never pestered him so much about his whereabouts. Except for a few times, like when those nin had captured Hinata when they were younger. She'd been worried he would be a target as well, for being the son of a national leader. And when Itachi had gone rogue, when Naruto had been returning from Shikamaru's place after finishing a project, she had called him and asked of his whereabouts in the same desperate way, fearing Itachi might take him hostage to leave the city safely.

Her worries were a bit far-fetched, but nonetheless understandable. So for her to be using that tone now meant...

His eyes widened, and he stood quickly, pulling the hood on Hinata's jacket above her head and then grabbing her hand.

"Nar-" she began.

"Hush," he said softly. She did. Naruto never said that kind of thing to anyone except Sasuke.

Something must be happening, she thought worriedly.

"The car's a little ways away," said Naruto into the phone. "We're at the gate." He pulled the hood of his own jacket over his head; his blonde hair was a feature that especially stood out in Konoha, and if someone were looking for him, it would make him easily distinguishable.

"Crap," said his mother softly. Naruto cringed.

His mother never cursed. Yelled, yes; but she rarely uttered anything even as bad as Hell. So he began to walk faster.

"...Uhm... Oh!" she said. "The Yamanaka's! Go to the flower shop!"

"You mean Ino's place?" he asked. "But I don-"

"I-I-I do," said Hinata faintly. Naruto turned briefly to stare at her and then let her take the lead.

"It's a few blo-" started his mother.

"Hinata knows the way," replied Naruto.

His mother made a sound of approval.

"Good girl, really, kiddo," she said; he could tell she was smiling. "Glad you finally got with her." Kushina cleared her throat. "Ok, all I can tell you is that the city is going to go into lock-down mode. There's-"

Naruto heard a snap and he heard his mother cry out.

"Mom?" he yelled.

"AAAAHHHGH!" she screamed. "R-r-roach!"

Naruto stopped walking for a second before bursting out laughing.

"You scared me for a second there," said Naruto.

"Ugh..." said his mother wearily. He could almost see her tiptoeing around the creature and heading towards the kitchen, where her weapon of destruction hung on a wall. "Just GO, Naruto," she said. "We don't know who they are, but someone's flying around looking for someone."

Naruto made a mental note to keep his ears peeled for any planes or helicopters; if he heard one, he'd grab Hinata and dive into the nearest building or alley or dumpster or... SOMETHING.

"Do you know who they're after?" asked Naruto.

"No," said Kushina, "but I don't want it to be you."

Naruto sighed.

"Hinata, how far till we get there?" he asked.

Hinata turned a little bit so she could answer him face-to-face.

"Just a-around-d the b-b-block," she said. Naruto nodded and squeezed her slightly trembling hand.

"We're fine, Hinata-chan," he said. She nodded, eyes focusing on the corner ahead.

"We're pretty much here, mom," he said as the shop came into view.

"All right," sighed Kushina. "Be safe."

"We will," replied Naruto, and he hung up.

They were about to enter the flower shop when they heard the sound of the sirens.

"Attention citizens," boomed Minato's voice from every speaker and television in the city that was accessible. Police cars with their sirens on zoomed across the city, broadcasting the message via speakers on the roofs. "Please go indoors. There is an unidentified aircraft flying above the city. We are currently attempting to make contact with them, but it's better to be safe than sorry, so please take shelter in the nearest vicinity."

He didn't have to tell Naruto twice.

In moments Hinata and he were inside the Yamanaka flower shop, and Naruto whirled around and turned the light switch off.

"Na-Naruto?" asked Ino from the counter; a repeat of Minato's message was playing on the radio in the corner of the little shop. "Hinata?"

"Ino, hey," said Naruto, waving after pulling his hood down. "So we can stay here for now, right?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, I don't see why not!" she said, running a hand along the hair she had tied back in a braid. "This is... unexpected," she said. As Naruto was about to sheepishly express his regrets for entering, Ino hastily shook her hands at him. "I mean the plane, or helicopter or whatever," she said.

"Oh," said Naruto. He nodded. "Yeah, definitely!" He shook his head tiredly. "It totally ruined our date!"

"Oh, yeah, you guys are an ITEM now," said Ino with a smile. "Well, isn't THIS a memorable first date!" she laughed.

"Uhm, g-guys?" asked Hinata quietly. She pulled her hood down. "Do y-y-you think th-the plane is one of S-S-S-Sounds?"

The room fell silent as the other two contemplated her words.

"... Probably," admitted Ino. She shook her head. "I didn't think they would do something so drastic, though," she said.

"Well, unidentified planes flying around happens pretty often," interjected Naruto.

"Exactly," said Ino sharply. "That's why they're telling us to go indoors: they're LYING. They DID identify it as a hostile aircraft, which is why we're in a temporary city-wide lockdown." Ino shook her head again, shifting and sitting down on the chair at the counter. "What a mess," she said softly.

All Naruto and Hinata could do was agree silently.

As the minutes passed, and it became clear that the lockdown was not going to be over any time soon, Ino ushered her friends into the back of the shop, into the house part of it.

"Might as well start cooking," she said. "Mom and Dad may not be home soon. Feel free to crash where you wanna."

Naruto proceeded to fall onto the couch and stretch contentedly, while Hinata and Ino went into the kitchen to find something edible.

"I can't see anything in our pantry," sighed Ino. "Can you?"

"Uhm, yes," Hinata said softly.

"Ahh, you Hyugas all have that amazing eyesight thing!" yelled Ino. "It's, like, kinda like cat eyes or something, right?"

"Uh-uhm...No."

"Oh..."

The girls rummaged around a bit more and finally it occurred to Naruto that maybe he should help them.

"Need help?" he asked, walking in. He stubbed his toe on the corner of something (a corner of a counter, to be precise) and hissed in pain. "Oouch!"

"Are you ok?" asked Ino. Naruto nodded, then remembered it was too dark to make out such a gesture in the lighting -or lack thereof- and spoke.

"Yeah, I'll be ok."

"Ahahah!" yelled Ino triumphantly, yanking out a container that made shifting sounds. "Found the noodles!"

"Is it ramen?" asked Naruto hopefully, hurrying over to where Ino and Hinata had gone.

Suddenly a door opened.

The three froze.

They heard silence. Ino's hand reached out and grabbed Naruto's shoulder, pushing him down. Hinata was urged down also, and Naruto looked up to see Ino's form silhouetted in the dimming evening lint filtering through the window in the other room, holding the container of noodles, creeping along the ground to the doorway.

Suddenly there was crashing. Hinata flinched and Naruto put his hand consolingly on his girlfriend's shoulder. Ino leapt back and scrambled back to where they were, opening a cabinet of the counter Naruto had bumped in to. She gestured fervently, and as Naruto heard the crash of a pot from the shop, he ushered Hinata in first, then signaled Ino in. He himself squeezed in just as he heard footsteps begin to echo from the tiled shop's floor, getting louder and heading towards them.

He softly closed the cabinet door.

An awful silence engulfed them. Behind him, he felt Hinata shaking, and heard Ino trying to keep herself from hyperventilating.

He himself was having an issue with keeping still.

The tight space they were in was suffocating, a little damp, and as mushed together as they were, practically sitting on each other, it was hot. He could feel perspiration forming on him. Maybe it was nerves, too, but it was hard to keep from twitching. He prayed that he wouldn't give them away by hitting his head or shoulder or something against the interior of the counter.

They dimly heard footsteps. The sound seemed to stop not too far away, and a click was heard. Light pooled suddenly through the crevices of the door, and Naruto couldn't help but flinch a little. He felt the girls behind him do the same.

And suddenly he remembered the container of food.

It was in the cabinet with them. Pressed against his back.

Painfully.

He tried not to fidget as he heard the footsteps continuing their inspection of the house, and he heard a chair tumble over.

But he accidentally twitched.

It was enough.

The noodles inside the container shifted. It was a quick little shuffle, but the footsteps came right in front of them immediately.

The cabinet was yanked open.

A gun pointed in Naruto's startled face.

"Out!" said a male voice. Naruto climbed out and made a move to stand in front of the cabinet to hide the girls when Hinata took that moment to sneeze.

A most unfortunate occurrence.

The person wreaking havoc around the house (a male, Naruto faintly took note of) crouched down and pointed his weapon into the cabinet, motioning, and Ino and Hinata were left with no choice but to also clamber out into the open as well.

The man looked at Naruto with a satisfied grin.

"You're the only one I need," he said. Naruto shivered. He had been the target of assaults before, but never had he been so close to death. Whenever danger had presented itself, Naruto would be hidden away somewhere remote with bodyguards while his parents worked to capture the attacker. He mentally realized that the plane had been a distraction while the search for him inland took place.

It was very disconcerting, to say the least.

The man herded the three teenagers into the living room. Moments ago he had been sprawled out on the couch, Naruto thought bitterly. And now the lives of all three of them rested in the palm of this man's hand.

"Get down," he ordered Naruto. Naruto grudgingly obeyed, and felt ropes being tied around his wrists, digging into his skin, making him wince. He looked up and tried to smile comfortingly at his girlfriend, who was practically in tears now. Ino was backed up against another cabinet, nervously fingering the handle.

"All right," the man said, smashing his hands together in success. "You I need alive." The man turned to eye the girls, who shrunk slightly under his scrutiny. "Them I don't."

"Don't you lay a FINGER on them!" Naruto hissed vehemently. "Or I swear to God, you'll die!"

The man laughed and kicked Naruto in the head. Naruto grunted as Hinata cried out, trying to run to his side. The man grabbed her and held her back.

"Now, maybe if you let-" the man began.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" yelled Naruto, rolling over and lashing out at the man with his legs. The man cried out, tripping, and Hinata scrambled away to Naruto's side, beginning to untie the knots binding his hands together.

"Don't move!" yelled the man, pointing his gun at Hinata again. She appeared to freeze, but subtly continued untying Naruto.

"I'm going to kill her," said the man, "and then I'm gonna kill the other one. But I'm gonna have fun first." he smirked. "And you're going to watch."

Hinata whimpered, finishing with Naruto's knot. He flung his arms around her protectively.

"Please," said Naruto softly. "Let them go, and... And I'll come with you without struggling."

Hinata made a sound of protest, but the man just cackled.

"No can do, kid," he said. "Any others are supposed to die." He began to raise his gun. "Orders from the boss."

A shot rang out. Hinata cried out and Naruto winced, shielding her and expecting the pain to come.

It didn't.

He opened his eyes and realized what had happened. Hinata was sobbing in his arms.

And Ino was holding a gun, legs a bit shaky but her arms steady. She was paler than she had been before.

The cabinet behind her was ajar a bit.

The man's body lay crumpled on the ground. Blood pooled and Naruto quickly looked away, turning Hinata to his chest.

Naruto was about to check his pocket for his cell phone when the gun in Ino's hands smashed into the ground as she fell to her knees. Naruto pulled Hinata's hood back over her head and turned her away from the body and made a move to go to Ino's side. Ino lashed out, viciously striking his arm away and scratching him in the process. He made a small yelling sound as he retracted his arm hastily.

"I... Don't..." Ino looked up at Naruto, her eyes clouded and teary, opened slightly wide in a confused way. "I just... KILLED... a..." her hands went to her hair, running softly through it. As Naruto looked on helplessly, she stooped and brought her hands to her face, staring at them as if they were something new to her, something awful.

Naruto took a deep breath and reached into his pant pocket. The feeling of his cell phone was oddly reassuring, and he brought it out and dialed the police to inform them of the whole ordeal.

Earlier that day he had been on a date with his amazing girlfriend and had felt invincible.

Now, he was one insignificant being whose existence had just brought two young women into the horrifying adult world of death and murder.

Not to mention flinging him along for the ride.

But there was one thing Naruto was sure of now.

If Sound was behind this, there would be war. Oh, there would be war.

Authors note: Phew, hard chapter to write! I'm no good with action, so I relied on suspense mostly. Tell me how it went!

The way I interpreted these lyrics was that they came in as children who horse around and who were naive, and came out adults having realized the world is full of more bad than good. I used that in the story: they were kids energized by new horizons, enjoying romance and gossip and joking and teasing each other, but after certain experiences were thrust into the real world of conniving and scheming and evil and death. Don't worry, there is hope! And yes, Ino is about to have a breakdown. The next chapter will start out after she already has, so let it be assumed that yes, yes she did have a mental breakdown.

I love Ino, hated writin this. But Naruto's view on death needs to change because of his personal encounters with it later on in the story. I think the only character who won't be affected in some way or another will be Kurenai, since she's already been affected. So yeah. Peace out. It's 11.30 and I've got school tomorrow, specifically cramming for the AP World History exam coming up in a few weeks. So yeaaaahh.

R&R so I know about your opinions/suggestions/critiques. If a flame is your version of a critique, then fine, idc. Flame away. Sticks and stones, after all. ;P

K, bye!