Akai can´t describe the feeling that invades her whole being as she regard the well-known Orochimaru the seconds after he declared that things are going to get worse from now on. Everyone tenses and prepares to fight even more. Kakashi glares at the snake man with venom in his gaze, he is about to take of his headband and use his Sharingan eye. Things are getting way out of hand now and the fact that she, and a large number of the rest present at the battle field, already are heavily injured doesn´t make Akai more comfortable.

All she can feel in this moment is pain. Pain is holding her heart in an iron grip, squeezing tightly, which makes her unable to breathe properly. Yoshi is dead. An intense pain in her chest makes the pale girl fight back her tears. Kanaye holds Akai close to himself as he focuses on the situation in front of them but his eyes lingers on Yoshi´s body as well. The two of them have lost a team mate, a comrade and a friend in this war so the need to end the fight is there. The wind plays with the demolished bamboo forest as the tense silence grows longer between the two foes.

"Ku ku ku." Orochimaru laughs. "Now, sssshall we get ssseriouss?"

Kim-Jeong glances at the silent Ryu before he charges at Kakashi without a warning. The grey haired sensei grunts as he is forced backwards to avoid being hit by the quick and graceful Korean man. The battle has started. Kim-Jeong missed Kakashi but is still able to evade Yamato´s attempt at hurting him to shield his senpai.

"Oh no." Ino complains with fear in her voice. "Guys, don´t get hurt…"

Akai´s wide eyes move to the blond woman when she touches her shoulder. Ino helps Akai, Kanaye and Aoi to move away from the battle so they join the other hurt ninjas in her care. The medic has a lot of work to do and the sweat on her forehead and her slightly shaking hands show that she´s running out of energy. A soft gasp leaves her lips when Kanaye suddenly is up on his feet and prepares to fight. He turns to look at her as if he knew she was going to tell him to stay.

"I´m not injured." He states the fact bluntly before leaving to fight.

Ino stands there looking at his back since she was unable to say anything. The wind grows stronger and her long hair turns messy. She has never seen a man walked into a fight with eyes like Kanaye´s. He is prepared to fight even though he already lost a lot.

"You might not be physically injured but your emotions…" She murmurs while looking away from his intense stare. "Don´t fight. That´s an order as a Medic."

Ino looks up at him again and stops the Grass ninja when he is about to say something.

"Don´t risk it. It´s not worth it." Ino glances at Akai and Aoi before she looks up at Kanaye."Stay and let me heal you then, if they need back up later, I won´t stop you from going."

Kanaye nods after a while of silence.

The turn in battle makes everybody turn their focus towards Kim-Jeong. Sasuke grunts when the weight on him gets lighter as Temari gets up to join the action. Sai is still there though so the Uchiha can´t run but his surveillance is getting weaker. Sasuke stays silent. Kim-Jeong´s loud laughter echoes in the clearing as he jumps backwards to avoid Kakashi´s punches. It´s clear that Kakashi is way stronger than the Korean but strength is nothing when you can´t hit your target. Kakashi frowns as he reaches for his headband but a sudden change in the environment startles him. The destroyed forest turns back to normal and the Sharingan user can swear that he hears his dead team mates´ laughter for a moment. Eyes widen. What´s this? Everything turns dark and cold around him and he forces himself to stop running.

"Senpai!" Yamato shouts since he can´t understand why Kakashi stopped for no reason. "What´s wrong?"

Eyes widen again when an earth shaking vibration moves through Yamato. The colors vanish and all hope he held close to his chest disappears in that moment. A thud can be heard as he falls to his knees in the dirt.

"An illusion?" He murmurs, glancing towards Orochimaru.

It´s not Orochimaru who has them under his spell; it´s Ryu. The big man stands there motionless as he stares at his two victims, forcing them to accept the darkest parts of their hearts. Yamato´s eyes roll around in his head as he tries to fight the genjutsu. The wind around them grows violent as Temari uses her huge fan to make the Sound ninja lose their balance. The dirty blonde girl grins widely as she receives a stare from Ryu who is clearly annoyed by her interference.

"Oh no you won´t." She tells him smiling. "It´s time to do some damage!"

The woman uses her wind to leave the ground behind as she floats on her fan towards the Sound shinobi in a quick speed. Kakashi and Yamato, who are now free from the darkness illusion, are quick to act as back up for the Suna kunoichi. The three of them charges violently and the attack even makes Orochimaru take cover. The wind cuts the Korean man´s face while Ryu takes several steps backwards to avoid falling to the ground. Kakashi attacks when they´re occupied and manages to take Kim-Jeong down with his Chidori. The sound of thousands of birds can be heard while the warmth of the attack burns skin. Temari gets knocked backwards when Kabuto and Orochimaru decides it´s enough. The girl from Suna flies through the air but manages to land on her feet further away.

"Temari!" Shikamaru seems worried as he runs up to her.

The pony tailed man puts his hand on her shoulder as he regards her while looking for injuries. The blond girl frowns as she exhales deeply. She´s happy he´s worried about her but he thinking that she can´t defend herself is even more hurtful than the Sound´s attack.

"Geh, Shika… I´m not made of glass." Temari comments.

Shikamaru looks puzzled for a moment before he smirks as well. She hasn´t changed, not at all. The two of them hurries to join the fight again where Kabuto has started to deliver heavy hits with his sharp knives used for surgery. Blood colors the grass red, sweat makes the air smell and their movements destroy the landscape even more. This is just the start.


The earth under them vibrates as the battle further away continues. All the injured shinobi regards it from their spot under the still living trees while Ino moves around healing them one by one. The atmosphere is really heavy and uncomfortable.

"Lee, how are you feeling?" Ino asks him.

"Better." He smiles weekly.

The green beast accepts the water Ino offers him and drinks it slowly. He´s tired and torn but his mind is wide awake. The bushy browed man looks at the people around him and sighs due to the heavy atmosphere. People are dead, others are grieving or hurt…and the battle is far from over. Lee looks at the cup in his hands while he hears how Ino talks with someone further away. Lee sighs to himself but looks up when he feels a familiar presence approach him.

Lee regards his team mate as the white eyed man sits down next to him. He´s about to greet him but decides not to when he notices the expression on the Hyuuga´s face. He looks eerily pale while the bruises and cuts on his face are turning purple as he stares at something further away. Lee tilts his head so he can see what Neji is so absorbed in and he frowns as he realizes everything. Neji is regarding Akai and her brother Aoi from a distance. The Isozaki siblings are both severely hurt, Aoi more than Akai, but their managing the pain together. Lee feels how his chest tightens as he notices that Akai is crying silently. He has never seen Akai cry or show weakness before so the sight catches his attention and probably Neji´s too.

Lee looks away for a while before he voices his opinion. "You should do something about it."

Neji looks at Lee in silence before he answers calmly. "I know." But he don´t move an inch from his place under the bamboo trees. He can just watch how an important person to him is hurting over something he had no chance to affect. She´s always hurting, he thinks, and he´s always too weak to protect her from that pain. Neji frowns as he looks away and takes a deep breath. His emotions are affecting him more than ever before and he knows Akai is the source of all his pain, anger and irritation. She is the reason why he wanted to murder Uchiha Sasuke. She is the reason for many things. A deep breath leaves Neji´s slightly parted lips. He looks tired when Ino kneels down next to him to tend to his injuries.

"Do you want some painkillers, senpai?"

"Yes, thank you." He answers politely. "Ino, I think Isozaki needs help."

Ino tenses at the name but is quick to understand that he means Aoi instead of Akai since he no longer calls her by her family name. She nods as he gives him the pills and a glass of water and is quick to get up on her feet and move towards the two Grass siblings. It seems that Ino is also worried about the Isozakis. Neji and Lee regards how their blonde kouhai starts to work on the Isozaki brother while Akai just sits there. Neji can see that she´s fine on the outside, just some scratches and bruises but the girl is very physically and emotionally exhausted. The stoic Hyuuga wants to comfort her so badly. He wants to embrace her and take all her pain away but she would certainly not accept that from him in this moment. Not here, not now and not in front of all these people. Neji clutches his hands tightly.

The injured ninja can´t relax for long because the battle not too far away from them is getting out of control. Orochimaru has joined the battle as well.


The atmosphere grows heavier with all the strong chakra gathering in the air. The sky has turned grey, the wind is cold and strong and the first drops of rain falls to give the dry soil new nutrition. The rain pours down making the ground slippery and damp but the fighting don´t notice. Their breaths turn into clouds of mist due to the cold as they breathe heavily due to exhaustion.

"Is that all you´ve got?" Kim-Jeong teases them with a broad smirk.

The Korean man is now covered in cuts and blood but he has a lot more to give. Ryu looks like he hasn´t been fighting at all, just like Orochimaru, while Kabuto also received some blows earlier. Temari curses as she notices how her legs are shaking. The Suna kunoichi knows she soon will reach her limit but that doesn´t change the fact that she´ll continue fight until she do reach that limit.

"Heh." She chuckles. "You´re ready for more little man?"

"You don´t have to ask."

The two collides both evading the other´s attack with their weapons. Kim-Jeong´s smile fades when he realizes that Temari is stronger than him physically and forces him to take several steps back to support his own weight. A gasp leaves his lips when something takes a hold of his legs and makes him unable to move. Wide eyes glance downward and widen even more when he sees how his and somebody else´s shadows acts strangely. Temari sighs with disappointment when she realizes that Shikamaru stepped in to help her but shrugs her shoulders and tries to finish the Korean off. A battle cry leaves her mouth as she swings her fan at Kim-Jeong violently. The sound of the rain makes the sound blood painting the grass red less audible.

"Ngh…" Kim-Jeong is now severely hurt.

Ryu, who has been fighting with Kakashi for a while, looks at his time mate in silence before he does nothing. The red head won´t save the Korean and it seems like neither Kabuto nor Orochimaru plans to move a limb for the hurt man´s sake. Kim-Jeong starts to cough blood when a second hit from Temari´s fan hits him in the chest and Shikamaru let´s him fall to the ground. The shadow, which was weakened due to the bad weather, moves on the ground until it´s back to normal again. Shikamaru sighs loudly as he scratches his head.

"That was troublesome…" He murmurs lazily but his expression changes when Temari falls to the ground. "Temari-!"

"I´m fine!" She mutters when the younger man reaches her side. "Just exhausted."

"Shikamaru, take Temari to Ino!" Kakashi orders. "We need your shadow possession jutsu!"

"Yes!"

Shikamaru looks down at Temari with a deep frown since he knows she won´t like this. After a deep sigh the smart ninja kneels down and takes a hold of her before he runs towards Ino carrying the older Suna kunoichi bridal style. Everything happens quickly so Temari has no time to complain at all. Ino meets them near the trees and she is quick to start healing Temari while SHikamaru returns to the battlefield without another word.


Naruto is so tired and keeping his eyes open becomes a burden. His aching body won´t let him fall asleep though so watching is all he can do at this moment. The blonde sighs deeply as he leans towards a bamboo tree. A small smirk grows on his lips as he hears how Temari curses over Shikamaru´s actions he can clearly see her love for the other even though it might turn into a love and hate relationship later. Blue eyes get darker as he regards Sasuke. The dark haired Uchiha is laying on the ground with one of Sai´s painted lions on top of him while the artist regards the battle with an indifferent expression on his pale face. Naruto has finally managed to get Sasuke back even though it´s still just in person and not at heart. The Uchiha hasn´t bothered to look his way even once but Naruto won´t let that get to him because he is so happy. He closes his eyes and sighs deeply.

"Naruto."

Naruto opens his eyes again and comes face to face with Akai. Eyes widen a little before he smiles warmly at her pale face. The girl sits down next to him in silence so Naruto wonders what she wanted but is too tired to ask her about it.

"Are you okay?" She asks tiredly at last.

"Yeah, I´ll survive dattebayo…" He smiles. "But you look like shit."

"I… guess so…" She murmurs before she smiles back at him." I´m glad that you´re ok. I was worried about you because… it looked like it hurt."

Naruto´s expression changes when he realizes that Akai is talking about his Kyuubi form. He never really told her about him being the host of the Kyuubi so he feels slightly bad about it. Akai doesn´t seem to be afraid of him now so he doesn´t take it badly either. Naruto doesn´t know what to say to her since he knows of her loss and is confused over why she suddenly wanted to talk with him. Wouldn´t she rather be with her brother…or Neji?

"Why are you talking about this?" Naruto asks her hesitantly.

Naruto hears how Akai exhales deeply.

"…I don´t want to lose another friend." She answers bluntly. "So next time this happens, please… don´t go out there alone."

"…" Naruto is slightly surprised. "Akai…Thank you. Ehm… I´ll try to be there for you too, bayo."

The two friends smiles weakly at each other with a large amount of pain behind their expression. Their friendship is getting stronger even in the most dangerous situations and they´ve come to a place where both accept the other fully. Maybe that´s why Akai wanted to talk with me? Naruto can´t help but feel happy about it. A new presence behind them makes them turn around to look at a certain Hyuuga. Naruto notices how Akai tenses a bit.

"Are you alright?" He asks Naruto and Akai.

"I´m good!" Naruto smiles at him. "Mission complete…well, it will be soon." He looks at the battle field.

Akai meets Neji´s gaze boldly when he looks at her but her weakness shines through.

"I´m surviving but I think I´m still in denial." Akai smiles weakly. "I´ll probably… break down again when all this is over. Sorry for being this weak guys. I can´t handle it as well as I want to…Are you ok?"

Akai can´t see Neji´s injuries but a lot of signs tell her that he´s injured as well. Like his body language, his way of speech and the way he put all his weight on his right leg. Why did things turn out like this? She wonders.

"You´ll manage to get over it." He tells her, not answering her question. "I know you´re strong enough."

"…Thanks. As some wise men once said: hardships make you stronger." She looks at him. "But you need to survive to achieve that strength." And she turns her gaze to the battlefield.


Blood keeps on drenching the now damp ground with a read stench. Kakashi squints when blood makes his vision go blurry. His Sharingan eye is focused on the heavily breathing Kabuto that´s leaning against a rock some meters away. He has managed to hurt the spy severely and the Konoha ninja believes the other man won´t be able to stand his ground for much longer. Kabuto curses under his breath as Kakashi charges at him once again because he has lost the strength to defend himself properly. A grunt leaves his lips as metal cuts his body in several places but he manages to jump back in time to avoid a vital hit. He glances at orochimaru who stands unmoving in the shadows as he is at a safe distance from Kakashi. We´re losing this battle…

Kim-Jeong is struggling to keep breathing while he´s slowly bleeding to death on enemy territory but Ryo is still able to fight on. His stamina is amazingly great as he continues to deliver punches and kicks that will force you into unconsciousness in one hit. But great power and strength often means that the person is slow and that´s the case. The Konoha ninja manages to avoid his head on attacks to escape with minor bruises. Ryu can no longer use his illusions due to Kakashi´s ability to foresee his attacks so he just continues on like a machine.

Kiba, who insisted on fighting even though Ino forbade him to, wipes away blood from his swollen lip before he attacks head on. Ryu´s eyes glows in the darkness as he notices this and swings his powerful arms towards him. Since Kiba was hit before he´s able to evade it and delivers a kick to the bigger man´s stomach. Ryo doesn´t move an inch but the opening Kiba created makes Yamato able to back him up with a more powerful attack. The united force of Kiba and Yamato sends Ryu backwards in a violent manner.

Orochimaru frowns from the shadows. He´s slowly realizing that it´s a losing battle and even he knows when to withdraw even though he would surely be able to do heavy damage to Grass by himself. But doing damage is not the same as getting the scroll. As if he read Orochimaru´s mind Kakashi speaks up.

"Withdraw or we´ll show no mercy!" He warns the snakeman.

"Mercccy?" Orochimaru repeats with sarcasm.

Everyone stops to listen since Orochimaru´s words will decide whether or not this battle will continue. The slowly dying Korean glances at the man with a plea in his gaze. He needs to be saved because he can´t die here, he doesn´t want to die now. Kabuto is also suffering from injuries that can become fatal so that leaves Ryo the only lapdog of Orochimaru´s that can still fight. Orochimaru glares at Kakashi and if glares could kill he would have killed the man three times now. Kakashi glares back boldly while his hand reaches out for a kunai in his pockets.

"Surrender now." Kakashi tells him.

The leader of Sound snorts loudly. The thought of him giving up is alien to Orochimaru but the fact that he won´t get what he came here to take is crystal clear now. Why risking hurting oneself in a war when he won´t get the scroll no matter what happens?

"This issss not the end." Orochimaru warns them in a horrible voice. "Just the beginning."

And the Sound ninja starts to retreat. A certain Korean struggles when no one comes to help him leave. The man that was so full of confidence before is about to cry like a baby when he understands that they´re leaving him behind. The light in his eyes fades as his hope does the same.

"…O-orochimaru-sama…" Kim Jeong stutters weakly.

The Konoha, Grass and Suna ninja gets up on their feet as they all watch how Sound is retreating. None of them trusts their backs and the thought of them turning around with a new raid makes them grab their weapons. The sound of the rain, Kim Jeong´s moaning and their own heartbeat echoes around the still living warriors until the backs of Orochimaru, Ryu and Kabuto disappears in the distance. Kakashi sighs deeply as he finally relaxes. Yamato gasps with relief alongside many others. It´s finally over. Someone starts yelling due to happiness.

"Ino, bind and heal him." Kakashi orders Ino to heal Kim-Jeong. "Someone secure Sasuke as well."

That happiness fades a fraction when Sai makes a frightening discovery. His creation, that kept Uchiha Sasuke at bay, growls when the body it sat on suddenly disappears in smoke. Sai´s eyes widen and he turns ice-cold. Uchiha Sasuke has escaped, or was he captured to start with? Kakashi looks at Sai in silence but that silence says more than words can. None of them dares to look in Naruto´s direction.

It was too good to be true.


The war ended and the small country called Grass is once again safe, for now. The capital of Grass sustained heavy damage containing destroyed landscapes, buildings and deaths leaving physical and emotional scars on its population and visitors. Scars will heal with time but some will never heal completely and even if they do the memory of them will haunt you all your life.

One good thing came out of all of that. The Konoha-Suna-Grass Alliance was established and the warriors started to prepare a great feast to celebrate.

Akai looks bitter as she watches how the towns people prepares the party around her. He is pissed because she can´t see why they should celebrate. A lot of people have died and the memory of Yoshi´s lifeless body won´t let her smile. Their mission was a failure. Sure they won the war and protected the scroll but Uchiha Sasuke managed to escape in the end. Akai glances at her friends standing close to her.

This is no victory, this was a war.

Akai is depressed but the fact that her friends from Konoha will leave as soon as the party ends is still not as obvious to her as it is to Neji. Her time with him is coming to an end.