Author's Note

Welcome back wonderful people of the internet! Or, however you're viewing this without using the internet. Here's where the main plot comes back into play! Oh, how I know it's been a while, but I'm serious this time. To be fair, everything could be considered plot since it moves things along. But in this case it's been very slow.

Anyways, I'm very excited to get this one out, so let's begin!


Chapter 8: How Betrayal Works

As soon as people were able to register what happened with Kimimaro, everyone did their best to avoid the bone spikes as well as sharp shrapnel that was sent everywhere. Gaara, being able to react just in time, was able to contain a hefty amount of the bone, however the pieces that weren't able to be stopped were either stuck into the walls, or ended the lives of an unlucky few that were fast enough.

There was no time to rest, either. Moments after the last of the shrapnel, members of the crowd revealed themselves to be Oto nin in disguise, immediately attacking any one around them not from Oto. The surprise attack took people off guard, but all able shinobi went straight to counterattacking them. A loud crashing noise outside the stadium signaled a giant summon breaking into the village, leaving an open gap for more Oto soldiers.

It was astounding how many shinobi were of the sound village, their forces starting off outnumbered of four to one, but their numbers grew immensely, outnumbering the Konoha and any Suna shinobi three to one. Jiraiya and Tsunade quickly dispatched their own summons to take care of the one running through the village, before jumping into the fray.

Alex and Kina did their best to work their way towards a group, Alex using several of his own created kunai to attack anyone coming towards them while Kina attacked anyone who got in range of her blades. Looking around, neither of them could spot Tayuya either, hoping that she got to a safe place.

Down on the stadium floor, it had begun to be even more chaotic than the stands as everyone used techniques that could hit both friend and foe. It wasn't much safer above, though, as Oto nin didn't have to hold back, but the Konoha and Suna nin had to refrain from causing too much damage.

Outside the stadium, the only way to best describe it was an all-out war. It became obvious that those in the stadium were considered lower tier, not using too many advanced techniques and quickly dispatched. The ones that weren't, however, were much stronger. Some having what looked to be kekkei genkai that were able to seriously harm the forces, while others were using powerful techniques that had to be dealt with immediately. As the numbers inside the stadium thinned out, more defenders would jump out to do whatever they could do.

Eventually, Kina and Alex managed to find Kakashi and Guy fighting back to back, staying back to help finish off those in the stadium. When there was finally a lull in their attackers, they approached.

"Kakashi-sensei! Gai-sensei! What's going on?" Alex yelled, the older shinobi looking at him and Kina.

"It was a surprised attack. Seems the Kazekage was right. Orochimaru tried to have him killed, but he managed to get away. To make sure the kages were safe, Hiruzen took the Hokage's place while the Kazekage used a clone. We were expecting this, but couldn't plan on how it would forth. This is a lot bigger than we thought. Not to mention, we're cut off from Hiruzen." He said, looking up towards the roof of one building, a purple cube surrounding a majority of it.

Inside the field, Orochimaru and the third Hokage were standing off against each other, but thing were going bad for the previous Hokage. Sarutobi was already feeling as if he was on his last legs, leaning on Enma's staff form as he watched his traitorous student carefully.

"What's the matter sensei? Feeling the effects of old age taking their toll on your body? Oh, how I enjoy that I'll never have to go through them myself!" He exclaims, launching a wave of snakes at his opponent. Running through several hand signs, he shot out a massive fireball, incinerating the snakes, but more just grew back, still coming at him. Forcing him to jump out of the way, he narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right about his former student.

"What have you done to yourself? I may not be able to see it, but I can feel that you're tainted with something." He said, Orochimaru laughing at him.

"Oh, is it that obvious? You see, someone came to me and gave me more power. Power not just for myself…" He waved one hand in the general direction of the larger fight. "But power to spread to my forces. I now never have to gain another body. I will live forever, to master the secrets of this world! But my only stipulation was that I kill Minato Namikaze. Seems like I'll have to handle him after I'm done with you!"

He exclaimed, pulling out his Kusunagi sword and rushing at Hiruzen, swinging his sword at him, only to be block. Hiruzen didn't know how much longer he could take. The sannin was stronger and faster than he had anticipated. Hopefully he could at least stall for time.

Looking back to the battle, the sides were evenly matched. However, the kages were still nowhere to be seen, still believed to be inside the purple containment field. There was a sudden shift in the struggle, however, when a rain of kunai fell from the sky around the battlefield. At first, it was a momentary distraction, until a yellow flash began to appear all around the enemy, slowly but surely helping thin the enemy forces. At the same time, a fine shower of golden dust fell upon the enemies, before pausing in midair, then all quickly moving as one, slicing through dozens of enemy shinobi.

Everyone watched and cheered, seeing their leaders assist them in battle, pushing them back even hard, forcing their main army to retreat. Alex and Kina watched on from atop the stadium, not going to be much help down there. Feeling a pulse of a familiar energy, he looked up to the top of the tower. It couldn't be…

Jumping up towards the roof, leaving Kina behind, he saw several Anbu scattered around, frantically trying to find a way in. Inside, he saw Orochimaru and Hiruzen fighting, however his suspicions were confirmed, as every time Orochimaru casted a jutsu, the pulse appeared again. Closing his eyes, he focused on that energy, before immediately opening his eyes in shock. All of the enemy forces had some amount of power inside them. All but one.

Running to one corner of the field, he found the one person that didn't have it in them… and he couldn't believe it.

"Tayuya…?" He asked outloud, but it would be unable to reach the girl's ears, the field preventing her from hearing him. Narrowing his eyes, he places his hands on the field, closing his eyes. If he could just mix his chakra in… There!

Focusing as hard as he could, he began to pool his chakra into the field. It couldn't go through, but it didn't need to. With his chakra mixed in, he was able to create a disruption, his ability solidifying it to create a small window through the first layer.

"TAYUYA!" He yelled, the girl turning around before her eyes widening in shock, pulling her hands off the ground, disrupting the barrier.

"What!? What's going on!?" Orochimaru yelled, watching as the field began to fail, looking around to see the cause, growling as he noticed the girl who had meant to betray him being the cause. Hiruzen tried to take advantage of the opportunity to take down his former student, but Orochimaru caught him off guard, dodging just barely of the way before running the former Hokage through with his sword.

"Retreat! And kill the traitor!" He yelled to the other Sound Four who nodded, taking off. It took a moment for Alex to realize that Tayuya wasn't moving, even after given the order to retreat. Behind her, he saw one of his bodyguards prepare a launcher of some kind, aiming it at her. Before it would be able to fire, Alex would tackle her, holding her tight as they were sent flying off the roof and plummeting to the streets down below.

Three Days Later

Alex awoke with a start, sitting up and looking around, panicking some. After a few moments, he managed to recognize that he was in the hospital. The next thing he noticed was Kina and Sakura to either side of him.

"You're awake!" Kina said, wrapping her arms around him tightly. The force which she held him made his entire body hurt, also finding it hard to breathe.

"Careful Kina, he's just woken up. You don't want him to pass out, do you?" Sakura asks, making Kina let go, Alex taking in a deep breath.

"What… happened?" He managed to get out, his voice hoarse and throat incredibly dry. Sakura handed him some water as Kina explain.

"Gaara saved you with his sand as best he could, but he couldn't cushion the entire fall. Sadly, between you and that traitor, you took the most of it." She said, Alex taking a moment to remember before his eyes shooting open.

"Tayuya!? Where is she!?" He asked, sitting up. Kina and Sakura both pushed him back down to rest.

"She's under arrest. She's been interrogated, but they think they've gotten all they could out of her. For now, she's going to sit in jail before her execution." Kina says, Alex shaking his head.

"Execution? No, no, no… I have to see her..." He said, trying to get up, only to realize how weak he really felt. The two girls looked at each other, Kina turning away while Sakura sighed.

"That's the thing. She only agreed to the execution sentence, but only if she got to talk to you first and have you decide." Sakura said, Alex looking down. "So you just need to rest. She's not going anywhere until you've talked with her." He nods slowly, closing his eyes to go to sleep.

Over the next few days, he was visited by several of his friends who would tell them about how things were going on around the village and how fast they were rebuilding the damages. Suna had decided to help out, with Gaara doing what he could with his sand to speed things up. Naruto visited him, the most depressed Alex had seen him. He told him how they had a funeral for Hiruzen, but that he wasn't the only kage killed. The Fourth Kazekage was killed by an enemy who had been pretending to be dead, leaving the Suna siblings fairly distraught. Gaara may not have been showing it on his face, but he was working harder than anyone else, most likely to give him something else to think of.

Kina would spend most of her time beside Alex's bed, talking with him and any visitors he got. However whenever Tayuya was brought up, he would suddenly go silent before saying he was taking a nap. Eventually came time that he was ready to go visit her. Kina told him that he was going to go alone if he did, which was fine by him. He wanted to talk to her alone anyways.

He was led by the head interrogator, Ibiki, through the prison to where she was kept. Alex was told stories about him through Anko, and he was just as intimidating as she described, but that wouldn't deter him. Surprisingly, though, Minato was there as well. Alex was to be given a time limit and when it was up, he was to let them know of what he wanted done with her.

Bringing him to a room where it would be just him and Tayuya, he was told fifteen minutes. Nodding, he entered, the door closing behind him. She was already sat at a table in the middle of the room. Walking over, he took a seat in front of her. For a minute, neither spoke. Alex wasn't even sure she knew he was there. Eventually, he broke the silence.

"Why?" He asked. That one word was enough for Tayuya to look up him before beginning to cry. She had done her best to suppress her emotions through all other interrogations, but just seeing him was what made it so that she could no longer hold back.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I couldn't refuse, they would have killed me, or use me for one of his experiments! All he said I had to do was help make the barrier, and I would be able to go! I didn't know what he was planning on doing in there! I didn't mean for them to die! I just wanted to live and be with you!" She sobbed. Her hair was messed up, her hat being taken away let it fall all over the place.

"I would have told you everything I knew! I was going to! But they stopped me before I could! I still couldn't tell you then, because they could have been following me! I was so scared of dying, I just didn't want to lose you! For the first time in my life, I felt safe! I felt happy! I just wanted to keep things that way! Please, I'll do anything to have it all back! Just don't leave me alone!" She managed to get out. After a few moments, he stood up.

"I think that's all I needed to hear." He stated before walking towards the door.

"Alex! Wait, please! I need you!" She tried reaching for him, but they had her bound to keep her from getting out. Placing his hand on the handle, he paused.

"I'll see if they can give me a week to think on it more." He stated before leaving, ignoring any further please.

"Well, that was quick. You come to a decision?" Ibiki asked, looking down at him.

"I wanted to be given an extra week to think on it. It's just a lot for me to take in." He said, the two older men looking to each other before nodding.

"Very well. Normally we wouldn't do this sort of thing… but you are just children. As cruel people may think me as, I wouldn't want to deny one's last request, no matter what it is. However, if you do decide she should live, you're going to need to make a strong case about it." The scarred interrogator said, Alex closing his eyes for a moment.

"I understand… However, I would like to make one request, Lord Hokage." He said, surprising the two older men before listening to what he wanted.

When he returned home later that day, Kina greeted him and asked him what his decision was. What she didn't expect was for him to not answer her and enter his room, but also lock it. For a few hours, Kina would try to get Alex to open up or at least say something, but nothing she said or threatened to do seemed to change his mind, making her give up. Over the week, no one would see any trace of Alex. It was if he disappeared, but they knew exactly where he was. The only times he left his room was to eat, and he would only do so when Kina wasn't home.

All of his friends were worried about him when they heard what he was doing from Kina. They each tried to talk him out, but no one seemed to get any reaction. The Suna siblings eventually left back to their village, having spent too long already in Konoha and needing to give their father a proper funeral at his home, but Alex didn't even exit to say good-bye to them.

By the seventh day, everyone began to think he had gone as far as to kill himself, when the door to his room finally opened, him rushing outside and taking off through the village. Kina was on the couch when he left, trying to get him to stop, but when he didn't she chased after him. However, something was weird. He wasn't going towards any place in specific it seemed. Eventually she saw him pass by the Ino-Shika-Cho genin trio, stopping in front of them.

"Alex left his room! You gotta help me stop him!" She said before running off after him. The three looked to each other before nodding, taking off after her. They chased him through the village, trying to cut him off whenever they could, only for him to slip away again. More and more people would notice them, and they would follow after them after being told what was going on, making it even harder. Eventually, they all managed to seemingly corner him inside the Hokage's tower. They took after him all the way to his office, bursting in to find Alex talking with the Hokage.

"I trust you you honored my request, Lord Hokage." He says, getting a chuckle and a nod from Minato before turning around.

"Now, everyone come on in. I have something I want to talk to you all about." Everyone looked confused but filed into the office. When they got another look around at who was there, all of his friends as well as instructors had all been gathered.

"Alright, let me start from the top." He began, everyone paying close attention.

A few hours later, Tayuya found herself being led to the Hokage's office. She looked like a wreck, clothes and hair disheveled, eyes red and swollen as if she hadn't stopped crying the past week. At this point, she had resigned to her fate. No one was coming for her. She didn't deserve to be saved. If she had been stronger, maybe she could have stopped the attack, and so many people wouldn't have died. This was the walk to her death sentence. All she could hope was that it was swift, even though it would have been too good of a death for her.

Arriving in the Hokage's office, she saw that it was filled with familiar faces. They were all people she had been introduced to during her stay in Konoha. All the people she lied to and betrayed. She had hoped to be counted among them as their friend, and even learn to be a better person, but it was too late for her now. The only one missing was Alex, and for that she was glad. She couldn't bear to face him again.

"Tayuya." The Hokage began, sitting behind his desk, fingers crossed in front of him. "You have assisted a criminal, someone who once betrayed Konoha. Because of him, and your assistance, not just are two kage dead, but hundreds of good shinobi. You had the chance to stop it, yet you were too afraid. We would have protected you and welcomed you with open arms, but you could not trust the village enough to do so. And because of your actions, you would be put to death." If she could hang her head in shame lower, she would have.

"However!" He continued, standing up, making her raise her head in surprise. "We of Konohagakure do not judge one solely from one action alone. We judge by one's nature and character. If were up to me or anyone else here alone, you would have been executed already. Yet, there is someone who trusts in you enough that they alone came before us all to prove your worth as a shinobi and as a person. At the same time, though, it does not excuse your actions." He said, as he walked around his desk.

"And so, we reached a unanimous decision. You are to lend your abilities and skills to the forces of Konoha for the time being, while under watch from the one who has convinced us to give you a second chance, to prove that you truly deserve it. I hope you do not disappoint me." He finished, sitting back down. Several thought raced through her head at once.

She was being given a second chance? She was going to be part of Konoha now? Who is it that she was going to be watched by? She was so distracted by her own thoughts, she hardly noticed her restraints being removed. It all clicked into place when the person who removed them stepped in front of her. That seemed to always happen when she saw him.

"Welcome to Konoha." Alex said, smiling softly at her, holding out a forehead protector in one hand and a new flute in the other.


Author's Note

Yay, happy endings! Don't you love them? Well, this isn't the end of the story, just the official end to this 'arc' I guess. But don't worry, more excitement is coming up! They can't just stop here, can they? Oh no, it's time for a bit of payback, and people are going to get serious.

As always, I greatly appreciate you reading. I hope you enjoyed it, and would love to hear what you enjoyed about it or what you didn't enjoy. Every bit of feedback helps to making my writing better for you to enjoy more

Until next time!