I'm back! Sorry it had literally been forever since I last updated. Like I said though, I am back and won't be going anywhere at least until this story is finished. Hope you enjoy the long awaited chapter 13

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Chapter 13

There was more screaming as the three of them got closer.

"We need to hurry guys" called Akio, who was for once leading the group. The night wind ruffled his blond hair, cooling the sweat that was forming on his forehead.

Rayne was now starting to regret all the sake she had drank as she followed in the rear of the group. She was running headfirst into danger and would probably have to fight and she was in no state to do so. Her mind felt fuzzy and her limbs felt heavy. She was still dizzy and her fingers felt clumsy as they gripped her weapon. It was probably only the adrenaline that was allowing her to even be moving as it is, that and Madarou who had decided to make himself available. After her second glass of Sake he had disappeared into some dark recess of her mind to hide. She probably wouldn't have woken up until the next night if it wasn't for him. After another shout they all put forth a little more effort to get there faster and within another minute they found themselves running through another alley way. Rayne reached out and grabbed Akio by the collar of his jacket before he could run out from behind cover. He stopped suddenly as he accidentally choked himself. He grabbed his throat and turned to her glaring. He remained silent as he saw she had one finger held to her lips.

"Hold it kid," she whispered. "We don't know what's going on out there. Always look first." She looked around for a second then turned and ran up the wall to her right, making her way to the rooftop. Akio and Hitoshi quickly joined her and crawled over to the edge of the roof with her. Rayne looked down in surprise and Akio soon saw why.

"What the heck is that?" gasped Akio. Below them three shinobi lay almost defeated in the street. A strange woman loomed over them. With a earsplitting shriek she flew at them, her long red hair floating around her head. She raised two giant clawed hands and slashed at the one man on the ground. He barely dodged it, rolling out of the way making her miss by a few inches. Whatever the thing was that was attacking them let out another loud shriek and dove at the man again. He was able to get out a kunai and block her next attack just in time.

Rayne and her team watched from the roof as the demon continued to attack the men that were on the ground below. The man who was still moving had finally managed to get back onto his feet and was barely dodging the oncoming attacks. As she was watching Rayne noticed that the three men were very familiar. Even though one of the three lay face down she recognized the others. Aww fuck. No way in hell! She swore to herself as she realized that the shinobi down below were the exact same ones that had had beat the crap out of her a few months ago.

"We have to help them" whispered Akio. Rayne looked to her right where he was laying and saw that Hiroshi was nodding in agreement next to him.

"No way" she hissed.

"Rayne! Those guys are sand shinobi, our comrades. Plus we have to protect the village!" he whispered. He knew she wasn't one to back down from a fight so her behavior confused him.

"Fine, we'll let them die then kill that thing. Then it can't terrorize the rest of the village. We'll say they were dead when we got here." she said turning her eyes back to the fight.

Akio glared at her. "What's your problem? Since when are you scared of a fight?"

"I'm not scarred. I just refuse to help pieces of shit like those guys." she said rolling her eyes.

"How do you even know them? What'd they ever do to you?"

"I'm not wasting time explaining it. Let's just say they don't exactly make the best welcoming party."

Akio just continued to stare at her. "I don't believe this. You're really going to let these people die over something stupid?"

They would have beaten me to death if the Kazekage hadn't stepped in. That's not something stupid. "They're a bunch of worthless drunks, so yeah."

"Look who's talking Rayne. You could barely walk a little while ago." Rayne paid no attention to him and kept her eyes on the fight. "Fine, I'll do this by myself" he said and began to push himself up of the rooftop. Hitoshi began to do the same.

"No you're not" said Rayne, grabbing his arm and pulling him back down before he could even get up. "You'll just get your ass kicked if you go down there by yourself. Those guys are chunin. What's a single gennin like you going to do? I don't need you getting yourself killed tonight."

"Then come with me!" he pleaded.

Rayne growled again, the alcohol only making things worse. Akio and Hitoshi couldn't go down there and fight that thing, whatever it was. If there was any chance in stopping it she had to go down there and fight it herself, and even that might not be enough, probably wasn't. Rayne felt her free hand drift down to the sword at her waist. The man on the ground was suddenly thrown across the street where her crashed into a shop front. Akio began to pull his hand a little but Rayne wouldn't let go. The demon woman below crept forward to the man on the ground.

Down on the ground the chunin glanced frantically at his other team members. He couldn't help wondering how it had ended up like this. They were only meant to go on patrols that night. He was supposed to be done in a few hours and he had planned to return to bars with his team for a drink or two before they closed. He tried to think of his next move but his mind was growing foggy. His hand that was grasping at his side came away bloody from the claw marks that now marked it. The demon now grew closer. A twisted, fanged grin stretched across its face. How could something like this sneak into the village?! As it now stood in front of him he realized that there was no escaping the next attack. He tried to stand but his legs just wouldn't move. His arms lay limply at his sides and all he could do was stare at the demon in front of him. It reached its large clawed hands to strike and he closed his eyes. He couldn't help but wish that he and his team had gone to the bar instead of patrolling that night as he waited for the last attack. It never came...

There was a clang of mettle and a loud shriek. He opened his eyes and the first think he thought was, by the gods, there are two of them; above him stood another female with the same red-brown hair. Two odd looking swords were clutched in her hands, holding back the demon's attacks. With a swift kick she sent the demon stumbling backwards. The girl in front of him quickly glanced back at him before running forward to fight the demon. He realized it wasn't another demon, but a girl; the same thief that they had caught a few months ago. He now could feel a large amount of chakra coming off the girl who before he mistook for an ordinary thief and now wondered if he was even more trouble than before.

Rayne watched the demon raised one claw up, ready to deal the final blow. She was aware of Akio calling out her name one last time but before he could even finish it. He suddenly felt the pressure disappear from his wrist as she performed a body flicker technique, vanishing. Rayne landed right in front of the defeated chunin swords barely drawn in time to deflect the attack. The demon standing in front of here was wearing a tattered black kimono. From a distance she may have looked human but up close there was no mistaking it. The monster had grey leathery skin and rows of sharp pointed teeth that grinned at her. Its dark snake-like eyes starred down at her making her skin crawl. There was an unmistakable odor of raw, rancid meat, mixed with other less subtle smells.

The Kunoichi heard the man behind her gasp but paid no attention to him as she kicked at the surprised demon's stomach. Her foot connected hard and sent the woman stumbling backwards. She quickly glanced at the chunin behind her to make sure he was still alive before running off towards her opponent. She stopped just in front of the woman and pressed the ends of the swords together. She summoned up a little chakra to combine them into the large sword staff she used and gave it a quick spin before dropping into a fighting stance.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" called the man from behind her.

Rayne just grinned after hearing the fear in his voice. He was scared of her now. Good. She then became aware of Akio and Hitoshi dropping down from the building they were stationed on and running over to where they were.

The chunin also saw them jump down and quickly called to them. "No! Stay back. It's not safe here! You need to go get help." He couldn't let the young gennin of his village get killed here. Between the demon and the new girl that showed up the fight had gotten a lot more serious then he thought possible. Hitoshi knelt down beside the man and Akio stood on the other side of him with a few shuriken in hand.

"Don't worry Sensei" said Akio. "We are the help. My team will take over from here."

"You better be fucking grateful for these two. If it was up to me I would have let you die" said Rayne bitterly.

"You're with her?" asked the chunin. He stood shocked. Since when was the thief girl a sand village shinobi? "You kids need to get out of here. That thing is no match for you gennin."

A cocky grin rose up on Akio's face. "You obviously haven't seen our team then old man. We're not just kids." The man just looked at him confused, firmly believing that the monster would kill all of them. "I got this from here Rayne, stay back and guard him and the others with Hitoshi." commanded Akio.

Rayne just laughed at him. "No way in hell kid. This thing," she said gesturing with her staff at the demon in front of her "will tear you apart. You two stay there and guard."

"Rayne!" cried Akio in outrage. "I'm leader of the team! I say it's my turn so let me fight this one!"

"What? Since when have you been leader?"

"Since always!"

"Listen here kid-"

"Stop calling me kid!" he shouted back to her.

Their argument only seemed to cause the chunin to panic more. They are only kids! They have no idea what they are getting themselves into! They're going to get us all killed!

"Until you're older than me, I'm in charge of this team. Now shut up watch my back you brat! Hitoshi see what you can do for the others alright?" Rayne was still trying to act a lot more confident than she was. The childish arguing with Akio seemed to help a little but she was still scared, something she would never admit. The thing standing in front of her was a beast. She wasn't even sure she could match it in a fight, let alone kill it. She could tell that Hitoshi was starting to panic a little at the sight of all the blood and that didn't help matters. "Hitoshi?" The young brunette just stared down, his face hidden in his shaggy bangs.

"Hitoshi!" He finally looked up her, his eyes full of fear. "Hitoshi I need you to listen to me! You n-" she was cut off as the demon lunged at her. Apparently it had grown tired of waiting for her. It snarled as she quickly dodged its attacks. Shit this thing is fast! she thought. "Listen to me Hitoshi! I need to know if you can do this."

"Rayne, I-I don't know"

"Can you heal them?" She yelled as she dogged back and forth trying to evade the creature's monstrous claws.

"Come on you can do it!" Akio yelled encouragingly.

Hitoshi looked around, panicked. There were three men down. They all needed help, help that if they didn't get would cause them to die. All the stress was getting to him. He couldn't do it. He felt sick to his stomach and thought he would pass out. "Rayne, I can't. I can't do it..."

"Fine then stay the fuck out of the way!" She shouted, not entirely meaning to sound angry. Frustrated would have been better. They all needed to work together and that wasn't going to happen if Hitoshi couldn't do his job. Rayne stuck out at the demon in front of her but it caught the shaft of her spear. It quickly yanked it, throwing it and Rayne out of her way. Rayne rolled as she hit the ground and quickly hopped back up and charged at the thing now rushing towards her team mates.

"Back off you bitch" growled the kunoichi. She performed another body flicker and blocked its attack again. She pushed the creature back once more. "Hitoshi if you can't help these guys you need to go get someone who will. I want you and Akio to move these guys to a safe spot and then run and get Kankuro and let him know what's going on. Can you do that? Akio you stay and guard these guys, got it?" Hitoshi nodded slowly then Akio helped him up. He was shaking badly still. Once Rayne was sure they were fine she charged back at her enemy.

"Don't worry I got you" said Akio as he began dragging one of other chunin over to the first one. He gently set him down, the man letting out a pained groan. Hitoshi pulled the other one over a few moments later. "You should go now Hitoshi. Rayne's going to need all the help she can get." Hitoshi looked at him nervously then gave a quick "okay" before running off. Akio took a defensive stance in front of the older shinobi now in his care and watched as his team mate now took on the monster by herself.

"Your friend doesn't have a chance kid" wheezed the only conscious man.

"You don't know Rayne." Akio answered solemnly. He wouldn't admit he was worried to hell about her.

"You really think the girl has a chance? Kid, we've fought her before. I'm not proud of it but we did, she went down so easily it could hardly been called a fight."

Akio assumed that had been the reason behind her hatred of the men. "I don't know what happened in that fight but I'm telling you, if any of us got this it's her. She's the best fighter on our team." The man behind him still didn't seem to believe him and Akio tried to remind himself that it didn't matter. He would just have to wait and see when the fight was over. He remained where he was and could only watch as Rayne dodged around the monster.

Rayne found that she was out of breath way too soon. She was getting dizzy and found that she was barely dodging its attacks. Her face stung as one of its long claws clipped her on the jaw. She flipped back a few times, barely landing, to get some space between the two of them. She stood panting while the monster in front of her looked completely fine. She growled then charged back at it. It deflected all of her swings, her razor sharp blades bouncing harmlessly off its giant hands. Rayne spun around disconnected her staff and stabbed the blades behind her. They connected with its chest but never even penetrated the skin. Rayne swore and quickly spun back around, reconnecting the blades. She slashed again but the monster was faster. It caught the staff in one giant hand and yanked it free of Rayne's grip. It tossed it aside like it was a twig and swung at Rayne. She dropped on her back in a last chance effort to avoid it. She landed hard, forcing the air out of her lungs. She rolled to her side and tried to get up. She felt an iron hard grip close around her chest, pinning her arms to her side. Akio, panicking, called out her name. The demon pulled her close to her face where its stench was worse. She struggled in its grasp but it wouldn't give. With a flick of the demon's arm, Rayne was sent flying. She wasn't even aware she was airborne before she was sent smashing through the front display window of a shop.

"Rayne!" called Akio as he heard her scream. "Rayne! Are you alright!?" She had to be alright. She was going to storm out of that shop any second, pissed as hell, bloody but alright. She had to because if she didn't, if she wasn't okay, he was alone. Hitoshi, hurry up! He waited for Rayne to come out but he couldn't see any movement. The demon woman stalked towards the shop window. Probably to finish Rayne off he couldn't help but think. Without much of a thought of what he was doing he pulled the shurikan back out of his pocket.

"Hey, hey you!" he called. The woman, having forgotten about him for the time being, turned around and hissed. "Yeah you! Come get me you ugly bitch!" He threw the shurikan at it. It quickly knocked it aside and took a few steps towards him.

"Kid! What are you doing! You're going to get us killed" whispered the man behind him.

"Stay here, I got this... I think"

"You think!?"

"We'll just have to see." Akio took off running down the side of the street, drawing the demon away from the shop window and the injured man. His heart was pounding hard in his chest, not because of the work but because of fear. The monster woman behind him was quickly catching up to him and he didn't know how much longer he could outrun it. He pulled out a kunai as he ran. It swung at him again, only just missing. He could feel its claws pass just centimeters away from the back of his neck. His stumbled and went sprawling. He quickly tried to climb away but he felt the demon's hold clammy hand wrap around his ankle and hoist him into the air. Luckily he had managed to keep his grip on his kunai. He swung back and forth for a moment before stabbing his blade into the things armpit. Warm, black blood ran down his hand as he twisted the knife, finally finding a weak spot on it. The demon shrieked and Akio shrieked with it as a crushing force was applied to his leg. He felt something snap in his leg and was then dropped to the ground.

Rayne had only been out for a few moments, just long enough for Akio to worry and go out and try to fight the demon on his own. It had been the demon's scream that had woken her up. She quickly bolted upright and then yelled out in pain. She noticed all the broken glass that lay around her and looked down to see her hands bleeding and embedded with tiny shards of glass. She could feel the blood running down her upper back, telling her that her back was in the same shape. Lucky for her the leather undershirt she had worn for protection did its job. Her wrists were similarly spared by the thick leather bracelets she wore to hide her scars. Her upper arms weren't protected and also bleed freely because of the tiny shards. She winced as she tried to move. Akio's own scream cut through the room and she realized he was still out there in danger. She tried to ignore the pain and stood up using only her legs, which, because she landed on her back, were mostly unharmed. She took a few shaky steps then climbed out the window, carefully avoiding the giant spikes of glass still left.

The first thing she saw was Akio lying on the ground curled up and clutching his leg. The demon flailed in front of him wildly, showering the ground with small black drops of blood. Rayne saw the Kunai sticking out from under its arm and smiled. She couldn't help be proud of Akio. She fumbled through one of her bags attached to her waist and pulled out a smoke bomb. Akio was hurt and she knew she needed to get him out of there. She attached the smoke bomb to a kunai and flung it towards them. It went off and the demon and Akio were soon enveloped in smoke. She dashed forwards and while they were blinding, crouched down next to Akio. She grabbed one of his arms and pulled it across her shoulders and pulled him up. She yelped in pain as his weight dug the shards of glass deeper into her skin but pulled him up anyways.

"Rayne?" coughed Akio. The smoke made it hard to see or breath. "Rayne are you okay?"

"Come on" she urged dragging him along and ignoring his questions. She growled with each step but soon enough they were out of the cloud of smoke. They were both collapsed to the ground as soon as they were out. They both laid there panting, unable to move anymore. The demon shrieked in the cloud, confused and trying to find its way out. They rest didn't last long and the smoke soon began to dissipate.

"Come on Akio, can you stand?"

"Rayne? Rayne you're bleeding!" he said sounding terrified. Visions of his old team flashed through his mind. He couldn't lose Rayne like that too.

"Akio I'm fine, you need to try to get up though." she panted as she lay next to him.

"But-but all the blood..."

"Focus kid, come on! I need you to get up!"

He tried to push himself up but cried out as blinding pain shot up his leg and through his body. "I can't. I think it's broken." he whimpered

The demon shriek after it spotted them. It lowered itself into a crouch and let out another shriek before charging at them. With neither of them being able to get up, Rayne did the only thing she could think of doing. She flipped over and moved her body over Akio's trying to shield him. But before the monster could get any closer a strong wind blew, spinning sand through the air. A covered her head and waited for the wind to die down. In its place stood a pale and shaking Hitoshi with the help he was supposed to bring. Not only did he get Kankuro like he was asked to but standing with them was one very concerned looking Kazekage. His dark red hair blew wildly around his face in the sandstorm he created.

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Well there you go! Hope you enjoyed and please review

~Reiko