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Akahana and Izo weren't at the meeting spot.

Naruto knew he shouldn't have been surprised but he had a feeling of dread when he saw that there was no one there to meet him. Yuri looked uncomfortable at having arrived first but she didn't seem particularly worried. She seemed more distracted than worried.

"Yuri?" Naruto asked hesitantly. There was no sign that she had heard him. Instead of speaking again, Naruto looked around and examined his surroundings. They were still outside the village but the undergrowth of the forest wasn't thick. They were nearer to the edge of the forest then. However, Naruto hadn't been here before.

That was surprising. Naruto had patrolled the forest boundaries around the village multiple times. He thought he knew the area well.

Apparently not.

"We're not at the edges," Yuri said. "This is the closest this forest comes to a clearing once you get a few minutes in. This is the back of the Deer compound. Akahana found it a few weeks after being named a kunoichi."

Naruto stared at Yuri. How had she known what he was thinking?

Yuri gave him a weak smile.

"You're such an open book," she told him. "It's not proper for a shinobi to be so open."

Naruto grimaced. Izo had frequently lectured him with those same words during his first few weeks with the team.

The pair waited in silence for nearly an hour before they heard other signs of life. To keep himself occupied, Naruto scrawled a note to Jiraiya, letting his mentor know what was going on. Just in case Naruto couldn't get out in time, Jiraiya deserved to know what had happened. Under the ruse of going to the bathroom, the Leaf shinobi sent the message out with one of his toads.

After that, Naruto tried not to think of what was going on inside the village. He had a feeling that whatever was happening was worse than whatever his imagination could come up with.

Instead, Naruto decided to sharpen his kunai and shuriken, even his spares. They had dulled somewhat over the past few hours and he hadn't sharpened them before the Day of Trials. However, he felt that now was the best time to fulfill that task.

Sharpening his kunai ensured that Naruto had one in hand when he and Yuri heard rustles approaching them. Naruto held his kunai in an offensive position while Yuri tried to figure out who was approaching by the distinct sounds of the rustling and by the smell in the air.

"It's Izo," she announced, a fraction of a second before the approaching figure reached the clearing. Naruto didn't relax until he confirmed it for himself that it was Izo.

The newly arrived shinobi looked around the clearing. A faint light of surprise entered his eyes.

"Akahana and Hotaru aren't here?" he asked.

"Were they supposed to arrive first?" Yuri asked, a troubled look entering her eyes. She approached Izo to examine his wounds. Most were superficial but there were a few on Izo's thighs and chest that looked like they were causing him trouble.

"I had assumed," Izo whispered. "She managed to get out of the arena before I could."

"What about the others in the arena?" Yuri asked. "Saya and Atsuo?"

"Atsuo joined his clanmates," Izo said in a resigned voice. He hadn't expected anything else. Wolves were loyal to a fault, he had learned over the years. "Saya woke up and got out shortly before Akahana did."

"How bad is it?" Yuri asked quietly.

"Worse than we ever could have expected," Izo replied, closing his eyes. He opened them immediately, not liking the memories that came to the forefront of his mind.

Civil war wasn't enough to explain what was happening inside the village. Frustrations had built up so far that Izo suspected that no one would be safe, not even those unable to defend themselves from shinobi. There were already shinobi that had proven they were willing to wipe out entire clans, including the children and elderly.

"We should go back and help," Yuri said. "We can't just sit back here and do nothing." She knew that preserving the clan was important but she had been trained to heal. She couldn't leave while others were being hurt and killed.

"We need to wait for Akahana," Izo replied.

"And if she doesn't show?" Yuri asked.

"She will," Naruto stated. Akahana was one of the strongest kunoichi in the village. She had to come join them.

For once, Naruto and Izo seemed to be in agreement.

"She got out," Izo murmured. "There's no way she wouldn't come."

With those words, Izo brushed away Yuri and went to stand at the edge of the clearing. He assumed a defensive position and settled in to wait.

Yuri looked between the two males and gave a soft sigh. Neither was going to move until Akahana and Hotaru showed up. She could only hope that their last teammate arrived before someone else discovered them.

Night had nearly fallen when Izo suddenly tensed up.

"Two figures approaching," he stated. "One's ahead of the other, like they're being chased."

The hopeful glint that had appeared in Yuri and Naruto's eyes faded. Akahana and Hotaru usually traveled side by side, not one in front of the other. It still could be them but it was highly doubtful with Izo's words.

A figure burst into the clearing and had to change directions in midair to miss being hit by Izo's kunai. It was Akahana. She cursed as the kunai grazed her skin.

"That better not have been one of your poisoned ones," she snapped to Izo as Hotaru barreled into the clearing. "I only have enough antidote for one person and I don't want to choose between me and Hotaru."

Izo raised an eyebrow.

"It wasn't," he said. "What happened to Hotaru?"

"Saya happened."

"She attacked you?" Izo's voice raised in surprise. He hadn't expected anything like that.

"She massacred the deer clan just now," Akahana explained. "She's the one that's been behind all the massacres."

"You saw this for yourself?" Izo demanded. Akahana nodded and began rummaging through the pack where she kept her kunai and emergency medical supplies.

"I followed her out of the arena on a hunch," she said while pulling out a vial and a syringe. The liquid in the vial went into the syringe with practiced hands. "I saw the results of the previous massacres. This was the same as those. Unfortunately she caught us as we were trying to escape without notice and poisoned Hotaru in the process."

While she was talking, Akahana used the syringe to inject the antidote into Hotaru's blood system. Hotaru's breathing eased after a few seconds.

"It was brutal," Akahana said. "The Deer Clan never stood a chance. She clearly mastered the process before she started targeting the larger clans."

"She should be eliminated," Izo said quietly.

Naruto stared at him with wide eyes. Izo was talking about killing off someone from his own village.

The Leaf shinobi hated these types of situations. A comrade had to be taken down or else they would wreak more havoc. Saya could not be allowed to become the next Orochimaru.

"Is getting rid of that problem more important than going back to the village and getting the children out?" Yuri asked. "That's what the Soshikage directed us to do in case something like this would happen."

Izo was silent for a few minutes as he weighed his options.

Then he spoke.

"We eliminate Saya."

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