Chapter 10: The End

"Where's Ino?" she asked.

"I put her up a tree," Shikamaru said boredly, pointing to a tall oak. Kiyoko rolled her eyes, though she had to admit it was pretty smart to put her up there. She got Ino down and set her on the ground. Pressing her hands against either side of her head, Kiyoko used her chakra to revive her. Ino stirred and opened her eyes. She sat up and looked around at the bodies littering the ground.

"Ah, damn. I missed it," she joked. Tenten laughed and told her that next time she wouldn't get out of fighting that easy. Suddenly, the ground trembled, and a second later they heard the unmistakable sound of a massive explosion off in the distance.

"Kiyoko!" Suzune shouted from the air, "It's Konoha! The east wall has been breached!"

The five shinobi didn't need to be told twice. They bolted towards Konoha as fast as their legs could carry them.

"We're splitting up from here, you guys," Kiyoko said to the others through the radios. "Good luck, and for Kami's sake, don't get yourselves killed on me. You guys know how much I hate paperwork."

"Don't you worry, there's no way some idiot rock ninja's gonna get me," Ino laughed.

"I'll hold you to it. Over and out," Kiyoko said, tapping her radio off. It would just be a distraction from here on out. She put on her ANBU mask, which was hanging loosely around her neck, since she was now on her own. Upon arriving at the breached wall, Kiyoko saw that a battle was already in full swing. Three giant snakes were also present. Anko had been right. Kiyoko decided to keep her distance. Snakes were definately not her thing. She quickly surveyed the damage and let out a sigh of relief that besides the gaping hole in the wall, none of the surrounding builings were severely damaged. Which was good, because her apartment happened to be located near the east wall. She spotted a ninja about to be hit from behind, so she jumped in and delivered a kick to the attacker's jaw, sending him spiraling into a nearby building. Then she went to check on the shinobi she'd saved. His leg was already injured, which was probably why he hadn't deflected the attack himself. He was also very young, maybe ten or eleven. Probably a genin.

"You okay, kid?" she asked.

"Hai. Arigato, ANBU-san," he nodded. Kiyoko carefully rolled up his pantleg. "The name's Kiyoko. How deep is this cut on your leg?"

"I don't know. Pretty bad, though, I think," he said, wincing. Kiyoko pushed her mask up so she could see better. She wasn't as skilled in medical jutsus as Sakura or Ino, but she'd had to patch herself up enough times that closing a wound was an almost effortless task.

"So what's your name?" she asked as she began to seal the cut.

"Hiroko Sei."

"You're a genin, right?" she asked, trying to keep Sei's attention on something other than the wound. The more he tensed up, the harder it was to heal it. His eyes widened and he pointed behind her. "Watch out!"

He was referring to the earth ninja leaping at them with a pair of double-tipped spears. Kiyoko, however, had already sensed him. Without even looking up, she sent two large boulders into the air, then smashed them together, crushing the ninja between them.

"Cool!" exclaimed Sei. "How did you do that without any handseals?"

"Bloodline limit," she explained simply. "M'kay, you're good. Now go fight."

As the young boy hurried off to help protect his village, Kiyoko headed off as well. In no time she had slain a dozen or so ninjas, but it seemed there was two more for every one that went down. They just kept coming. Eventually, though, they were forced to retreat. Konoha had won.

"Yeah!" Kiyoko shouted, hugging the nearest leaf ninja, who just laughed and joined in cheering. That night, the whole of Konoha was in celebration. The sound of parties being thrown filled the streets, and everyone was happy. Kiyoko, however, did not join in the festivities. Though the extent of the damage to the village was only a few buildings, twenty-six leaf ninja had lost there lives that day. She wasn't exactly in the mood for partying. Instead, Kiyoko locked herself in her room in front of her easel with a blank canvas and her paints. She took her pencil and lightly began to sketch. Then she picked up a brush, a thick, wide bristled one, and dipped it in some watered-down, blue paint. She dragged the brush across the canvas a few times to create a dull, blue-grey sky. Kiyoko switched to a smaller brush and painted trees along the bottom. Then she began to paint a pair of wide, chesnut brown wings stretching to either side of the canvas. Between these wings, she drew not the body of a bird, but that of a familiar, white-haired, special jounin. Using her smallest brush, Kiyoko carefully painted the details of her face. She gave herself a happy, exhilerated look. When she finished, she signed her name and looked at the clock.

"I've been at this for five hours? No wonder my eyes hurt so much," she muttered to herself.

"It looks nice, though," stated an unexpected voice from behind her. Kiyoko jumped and turned around to see Kiba lounging on her bed. He was lying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows with his head in his hands. It was actually quite adorable.

"How long have you been here?" she asked, throwing a pillow at the dog-boy for scaring her like that.

"'Bout an hour. I was just dropping by to see what you were up to, but then I kinda got sucked into watching you paint," he admitted. "Why aren't you out partying it up like the rest of the town?"

"I'm not really in the 'partying it up' mood. Too much killing today for me to feel much like celebrating," Kiyoko shrugged. "Why aren't you out celebrating with your family?"

"Bah, my mom and sister are out getting drunk with some friends, and Akamaru's out running around town with the rest of the clan dogs," he stated.

"You wanna head down to Ichiraku's and see if the gang's there?" suggested Kiyoko.

"Yeah, sure. I'm actually really hungry," Kiba nodded, jumping up off the bed. They headed down to the Ichiraku Ramen Shop and found that Hinata and Shino were there. Kiyoko sat down next to Hinata and Kiba sat next to Shino. They talked and joked around for a while before Kiyoko announced that she was going home to get some sleep. As she laid in bed, she stared at the ceiling and thought about her life. Now I know I made the right choice coming back to Konoha. I'll always be a tool; a tool called shinobi... but at least now I'm a willing tool. My life actually has meaning and purpose now. I must live and fight for those I love. I'm happy with my life. Kiyoko smiled and fell asleep a moment later, dreaming of falcons and friends and forests with villages hidden in them. The next morning she attended the ANBU meeting like she always did. After the meeting, however, Tsunade pulled her aside and asked to speak with her for a moment in her office. Kiyoko obliged, curious as to what she wanted. The blonde sannin picked up a book from her desk and tossed it to her.

"A Bingo book?"

She nodded. "An Earth Country Bingo Book. Take a look at the latest addition to it."

Kiyoko curiously flipped through the pages until she got to the right one. She let out a sort of choked squeak.

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Name: Tsuchiketsueki Izumi, age 15

Rank: A-class missing-nin

Wanted for: treason, murder, and aiding an enemy country

Bounty: 1,300,000 yen; dead or alive

Note: goes by alias "Shirotaka Kiyoko"

Authorized by the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure

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"1,300,000 yen? Wow, that's a lot," Kiyoko said in amazement ((A/n: that's a little over $10,000 in American money)). Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You don't sound too surprised."

"I'm not. I knew that someone would eventually recognize me from Iwagakure and report me. I probably got picked up by a security camera when I was fighting Haru and my mask came off. I don't care though. Izumi was a fool," Kiyoko said bitterly. Tsunade nodded, apparently satisfied, and dismissed Kiyoko. The silver-haired ninja bowed respectfully and asked if she could borrow the book. Tsunade nodded and said she could keep it. Then she left and headed over to the training grounds for some practice with the team.

"Hey guys!" she called out as she approached. "Wanna see something funny?"

She showed them the Bingo Book entry and they all laughed and teased her about it. Kurenai told them all to get back to work after a minute or two, and they all groaned but complied. Kiyoko smiled and looked towards the east, where the sun was rising in a gorgeous blend of color. She took a deep breath of fresh, crisp, morning air. I am Shirotaka Kiyoko, the White Falcon of Konoha...

-The End-

Shiori's Blurbs:

Aw, it's over! Well, all good things must come to an end, right? Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this, and a special thanks to everyone who has reviewed any of the chapters. Thanks for being there, it's been fun. By the way, I did a drawing of Kiyoko on my deviantart account: http://www. deviantart. com/deviation/47957738/ (obviously without the spaces though). Go check it out!