"Ah there they are. You guys finished your mission two days early." I shot the man a smile, "Yeah, they were quite easy to track." my fake smile was convincing to almost everyone in the room. Sasuke stared at me, analyzing my face as if noticing every single lie I was telling. "We need to talk." told me his eyes. I nodded at him. "Well then, the mission was fun and all but I want to spend some time with my friend now."
I said with a smile on my face, "It's been a while since the last time I've seen him so yeah." Pain stopped me from moving any further, "Did you make a choice? Whose team will you be joining?" my body stiffened, though I nodded and continued shooting him a dashing smile. "It was really hard to choose but yeah, I've decided to go on Sasuke's team. We work better together." I shrugged. Tobi was the first and only one to react, "What?! Lia-chan no! You'll go on missions with us still right?!" I nodded, moving away just in time before he could throw himself on me. "Now then. Sasuke, we have a lot to talk about." I said with a friendly smile. "Indeed."
We walked away from the group and out of the hideout, "What happened? Why are you in the Akatsuki?" I asked before he could bombard me with questions of his own. "Tsunade said that you might've fallen in love with a "hot villain" or something along the lines of that. I'm assuming she was right?" I chuckled, "No. I still need to gain their trust. We're talking about a weapon that could destroy an entire country here. Nobody other than Pain is allowed near it at the moment." Sasuke nodded. "Now then. Time for my questions." I nodded, waiting for him to ask the obvious. "Aelia what the fuck happened? You look like a mess!" I chuckled rubbing the back of my neck, "Drop the mask Aelia. Tell me what's going on."
Tears filled my eyes. "Sasuke…" I said, throwing myself at him, hugging him tight. "Sasuke I don't know what to do… It was horrible on that boat…" Sasuke cocked a brow but just contented himself with hugging me back and running his fingers through my hair. "You had a panic attack. Why?" he asked. How does he know even though I never even show any signs of it after I get the attack?
"Do you promise not to get mad?" I asked. Sasuke shook his head, "You know I can't promise you that." I let out a sigh, "Then do you promise not to overreact?" to that he nodded to. "You said something about a boat. What's that about?" my body went rigid, "Do you know what our mission was about?" I asked. Sasuke shook his head, "We had to take down a sex trafficking ring in Zalfari, we made a plan to lure them out by… you get the idea. The plan was successful and I'm assuming you can guess what happened after that." I don't know when but tears started rolling down my cheeks once again. I wiped the tears with my sleeve and looked down, refusing to look the Uchiha in the eye. "What did they do to you?" asked Sasuke calmly, though the look in his eyes was anything but. "N-nothing."
"DO NOT LIE TO ME!" I flinched and took a step back, a few flashbacks coming up but I forced them down. Sasuke calmed down as quickly as he got angry. "I'm sorry, I got carried away." he said, taking a step towards me, "Please tell me what happened. I'll listen. I promise I won't try anything." he opened his arms and waited for me to get into his embrace. When I did, the feeling of his arms around me made me feel safer than I ever had in a long time. "I got raped." I said in the end. Sasuke's arms tightened around me, "I feel so disgusting, so dirty… damaged…"
The Uchiha put his hand on the back of my head, pushing it into his shoulder. "You're none of those things." he whispered, hugging me tighter. "I may not be but it sure feels like I am…" I cried, wetting his shirt. "It's going to be okay. I'm here now." he stroked my hair, whispering that everything was going to be fine, that he was here now, that he was going to help me with my problems, listen to me. He said those things to me until I eventually fell asleep, the last things I heard from him being, "You're dead, Deidara."
I woke up that morning in my bed with something warm on my hand. I opened my eyes and saw that it was Sasuke's hand. How did this happen- Oh right… I broke down in front of him yesterday… I sighed, remembering the pitiful state I was in. Why did he stay here? I smiled sadly, You've always been here in my darkest times haven't you? Thank you. I got out of bed and gently shook Sasuke awake.
The Uchiha groaned before getting up and cracking his neck. "Good morning… I'm sorry about yesterday." I said in an apologetic tone. Sasuke shook his head, "It's fine. You needed to vent." he hesitated before adding, "Sakura and I we…" I feared for the worst, "Please don't tell me you broke up!" the boy shook his head, "NO!" he exclaimed, right before chuckling, "We should stay quiet or we might wake that she-devil up."
I cocked my brow at that, "Konan-san? A she-devil?" Sasuke nodded, shivering at a memory. "I can't read into your memories. Can you please use words?" I asked in a bored tone. "Right. So when I brought you to the room, everyone was asleep… except her… she was reading some kind of book about different ways to kill someone or something. When I laid you on the bed, she kept staring at me and glaring, then pointing at the book." I chuckled lightly, "Don't laugh, it was terrifying!" I continued chuckling.
"So what happened with Sakura?" I asked. The Uchiha blushed, "We… sort of… decided to… you know… getmarriedatsomepointwhenweareofage." I stopped dead in my tracks before laughing once again. Sasuke's face flushed as he tried to shut me up. "Stop!" he exclaimed, annoyed. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. It's just that you're way too young to know this kind of stuff… I'm not telling you not to do it but it comes with huge responsibility." Sasuke made a face \ and dragged me out of the room. "Let's eat breakfast. You must be starving."
I nodded. I hadn't eaten anything since I had been kidnapped… well I was kidnapped by my own will but still… We left the room as quickly as possible and headed for the dining room. "Ah, I'll be in the kitchen. I'd like to drink some tea." I said with a small smile. Right now, what I need to pretend like none of the events in the past week ever happened. I headed towards the counter to pour myself a cup of tea when suddenly, Deidara appeared next to me. "Good morning." he said hesitantly, I shot him a bright smile and waved. "Listen… Can we talk about what happened last night?" asked the blond, a slight blush on his face. The mention of the kiss flustered me as well but I nodded nonetheless.
"What would you like to talk about?" I asked, not being able to bear with the silence anymore. "I-I kissed you… and I know that I should've asked… I'm sorry." I chuckled slightly, "You don't need to apologize for that Deidara." I said with a smile, "I liked it." I said in the end, blushing. A few seconds passed without either of us saying anything. "Oi, Aelia what's taking you so long-" Sasuke immediately glared at the blond, pulling me away from him. "Morning Uchiha." greeted Deidara, any sign of joy gone from his face, I sighed. I guess this is the new normal now.
"Morning." greeted Sasuke, his anger evident in his voice, "Lia, come on, there's a lot of food on the table and Tobi is already eating half of it." I let out a small sigh and headed out of the kitchen, shooting Deidara a small smile before turning my back to him and walking away. "I have a feeling that Deidara is going to be your new Naruto." I mumbled, putting a strawberry into my mouth. "Naruto and I have fights similar to what siblings have. Deidara is just an asshole." I made a face, "You only talked to him for like… two seconds in your entire life."
"And yet I hate him with a burning passion." said Sasuke, popping a cherry into his mouth, "Why though, it's not like he's done anything." The Uchiha sighed, "That's exactly the problem. He failed to protect you even though you're his teammate." I rolled my eyes, "I agreed to the plan. It's my fault just as much as his." I mumbled taking a bite out of my pancake. Sasuke shook his head.
"I don't understand you… you're just like Naruto, giving people second chances all the time." I chuckled at that, "How is he by the way?" Sasuke became silent, "Is he alright?" I asked, starting to get worried. "Yeah… he just… misses you a lot and he wanted to thank you for sending Jiraiya home." I nodded, a little saddened, "I miss him too. But I can't go back home just yet." Sasuke nodded. "Where is everyone by the way?" I shrugged, "They're probably still asleep. Did they drink last night?" asked Deidara as he came in through the kitchen. Sasuke nodded, annoyed that Deidara had joined the conversation.
"Then they won't wake up before noon." the blond stated, sitting down next to me. The Uchiha glared at him while I ignored the raven haired boy and turned to the blond. "Were you able to rest well?" I asked, trying to ignore the judgy looks I was receiving from my friend.
"Yeah, were you?" before I could answer, Sasuke nodded his head, a smirk on his face, "Of course she's well rested. She was with me." The boy whipped his head at me while I buried my face in my hands, "Can you stop making it sound as though we fucked?" I asked, sending him a glare disguised as a pleading look. "You were the only one to think that." mumbled Sasuke while Deidara and I shook our heads.
"So… why were you with Aelia?" asked Deidara. Please stop this. I like seeing the two of them annoyed but when you bring them together it's just too much. "That's none of your business… failure of a teammate." he mumbled the last part but I still heard. I shot him a glare and faced away from him. "Seriously?! Can't you be mature for one second?" I asked, annoyed, "You know I'm right."
"I completely disagree." I mumbled, turning back to Deidara, "Would you like to go down to the village together? There's this new cafe that opened, I'd like to go." the boy nodded, "Sure. I don't have anything planned today anyways." I could feel Sasuke's stare burning holes in the back of my neck. "Would you like to come too? Though you two will have to promise me to behave." I said with a smile on my face. Hehe, I know that Sasuke would never leave me alone with Deidara so I might as well force him to come.
"Sure. As long as he doesn't try anything." Deidara slung his arm around my shoulders. "What could I possibly do?" My body went frigid as our skin connected, Deidara seemed to notice that and removed his arm just as quickly as he had put it. I sent the boy a thankful smile while he shot me a worried one. I looked away, not wanting to meet his eyes. I really do like you Deidara but right now, the trauma is overruling everything.
"I-I might need to pass on the cafe Aelia. Sorry. I'll see you around?" I gulped, he really looks hurt right now, "Yeah, no worries. See you around." I looked down, a little disappointed, by now, everyone was at the lobby, staring at what was going down. "Did Deidara just turn down Aelia?" asked Hidan, a smirk on his face, "Would you look at that, new boy, new drama." said Konan, glaring at Sasuke.
"He brought Aelia to our room yesterday and stayed the night." I glared at the small group that had formed in front of the door. "Not only can we see you, we can also hear you!" I called, annoyed. The group chuckled while Pain just maintained his usual stoic face. The two of us made eye contact and I quickly looked away, not wanting to deal with him. "Lia, let's go." called Sasuke from the door, grabbing my hand and dragging me out. I could see Deidara looking angry from the corner of my eye but I really couldn't do much about it.
We walked into the village, as always, the rain was pouring but I had gotten used to the gloomy weather by now, even starting to enjoy it. "You could really do much better." said Sasuke after we got some dango, "Um… what do you mean?" I asked, inhaling an entire stick. "It's plain as day that you like Deidara. I'm surprised that bonehead hasn't figured it out." I immediately blushed, "W-w-what?! It's not what you think! Idiot!" I exclaimed, turning away from him, my blush intensifying. "Besides… things are difficult right now. I'm dealing with a lot of stuff so I don't want to have a crush to top it off."
I whined, annoyed at the fact that my heart never listened to my brain. "Why him?" asked Sasuke after a pause, "I mean I get that he's probably the better looking out of the rest, and also the closest to your age but he really looks like Rapunzel." I chuckled at that, "You would be wrong, Sasuke. The most handsome out of them is-"
"Me." interjected Sasuke. I let out a laugh before answering, "Tobi. You should see what's under his mask and the giant plot twist that's going to unfold." I mumbled dreamily. "Ah right… sometimes I forget that this is all scripted." I chuckled at that, "Nah, we've gone pretty far off the script now. Not even I can tell what's going to happen next with certainty which is why I have a few lackeys to do the dirty work for me." Sasuke sweat dropped before asking, "Do you think that maybe you are a character as well? But from a different book and this is just a crossover?" I chuckled at that, "Then I would hate my author for my tragic backstory."
Sasuke ate his dango stick, "Well, it's not like I'm particularly fond of mine either so I guess we're in the same boat." the two of us chuckled before Sasuke got serious again. "So… The team and I have been talking…" I urged him to go on, curious, "We think we should learn at least one of the languages that you know. That way, in case of something happening, we'd be able to communicate and stuff. I'd also like to learn the latin alphabet but that's a different kind of favor." I shrugged, "Sure. I'll teach you turkish then. French would be too easy for a skilled shinobi to decode since french and english are both latin languages. Turkish on the other hand, is a whole different thing."
"I didn't understand a word of what you just said but I'm just going to go for it." declared Sasuke, putting the last dango stick into his mouth. "You were saying something about a plot twist?" I chuckled at that, "All in its time, Sasuke, you'll learn everything in its time." the boy let out a sigh, "Sometimes, even I don't think I'm able to read you." I chuckled at that, "Come on now, you're exaggerating." I mumbled, finishing my dango stick. "Let's head back," I suggested with a small smile. The Uchiha nodded, "Are you sure you'll be fine? You looked pretty upset every time Deidara came near."
I let out a sigh, of course he can see it, "Is there something you aren't telling me?" I nodded in the end, "The person who did the most damage… he looked like Deidara." Sasuke shot me a sorry look before hugging me one more time, "You've been hugging me a lot lately, you've missed me haven't you?" I teased, trying to get out of the situation. "Don't evade the subject." mumbled Sasuke, letting out a sigh. "Do you want me to drive him away?" I shook my head, already knowing what he had in mind.
"What's going to help me the most in the moment is pretending like the last week never even happened." Sasuke shook his head disapprovingly, "you're in denial. It's not good. You should talk about it, trying to get over trauma by denial has never helped anyone." he pointed at himself before adding, "I'm living proof of that." I snickered at that before lightly punching his shoulder.
"You should tell Pain." he said after some consideration. "Maybe he can arrange some therapy sessions or something." I choked on a laugh, "It's already hard enough for me to talk about it with you, and you're like a brother to me, imagine what would happen if I talked about it with Pain." The Uchiha shook his head, "It's hard for you because you know me, talking to a stranger about it might be helpful." I shook my head, remembering every single session I had with Inoichi, "If I really have to talk about it, the best option would be with another girl." I said with a shrug, "But I wouldn't want to bother Konan-san with that."
"Trust me, you wouldn't be bothering that she-devil. In fact, I think she would go out of her way to find whoever did this. That woman is really protective over you." I cocked a brow but decided to consider it. "I don't know… I might try at some point… Telling her." Sasuke put his hand over mine, "I'm certain it'll help you. Just… it's for your own good, denial will only delay the storm. You need to face it head on." He ruffled my hair before standing up and pulling me with him, back to the hideout. "In fact. You're telling her now."
My eyes widened at that as I tried to pull away from Sasuke, "No! Don't make me do it no! I-I'm not ready! Duckbutt!" Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks before turning around with the biggest smirk on his face. "You know what this calls for." he picked me up and slung me over his shoulder, bringing me into the hideout while I was trashing him and telling him to put me down. "Gah! Sasuke come on!" I whined, punching his back, "Put me down!" The Uchiha chuckled before saying, "You know what to do if you want to come down." I blushed, "I'm never ever saying that just put me down please!" I begged. "That's a nice view." commented Hidan, staring right at my butt. "Sasuke~ Come on! Put me down, Hidan is acting like a pervert again!"
"Why are you carrying her anyway?" asked Konan, a threatening look on her face. I felt Sasuke stiffen as he answered. "It's this thing Orochimaru used to make us do. Now I just do it to annoy her because it's fun." I let out a sigh and gave up on trying to escape. "Are you ready to cave?" he asked, chuckling. "NEVER!" I exclaimed trying to escape his grasp. In the end I gave up. "Can you carry me to the kitchen? I'm thirsty." In life you've got to learn how to adapt to situations. In this case, I'll just let him carry me until he gets bored. Pain came into the room and cocked a brow.
"Pain~ My relative that I love so much~" I singsonged, "Please help me out." I drank my cup of water and stretched just far enough to put it into the sink. "The view is getting better." commented Kisame, a smirk on his face. "Sasuke come on! Put me down, I'm wearing a skirt!" I whined, at the verge of tears. "You know what to say, Lia." I looked around the room and met Deidara's eye. "Somebody help me~" I whined. Deidara let out a sigh, "Come on. Put her down." he told Sasuke but that only annoyed him further, "I don't listen to men with long hair," he mumbled, even though we both knew that was a lie. "Really now? What about Orochimaru?" I teased.
Sasuke let out a sigh and sast down on the couch, "You've become very light. Have you been eating properly?" He asked, though I couldn't answer because my face was smashed against the wall behind him. "Oh. Sorry." chuckled the boy as he stood from the couch. "I have been eating properly. Now put me down! I promise I'll say it!" I said in the end, I was starting to get nauseous. "Nu-uh, you know the rules. You've got to say it first and then trust me to put you down." Said Sasuke with a smirk.
"The fucker is dead, you don't have to follow that rule anymore! Sasuke!" But as always, I let him have his way. "I like fuzzy cats and pretending common household items have feelings." I mumbled, a blush spreading on my face. "There. It wasn't so hard was it?" I slapped him in the face, "Sasuke you idiot!" I screamed, running to my room. "Well… that has never happened before." I heard Sasuke say as he probably headed for my door. "Don't you think you've done enough already? You embarrassed the poor girl in front of everyone." said Deidara, probably in front of the door. "At least I didn't fail to protect her like you did so you might as well move aside, Blondie." Deidara paused, probably moving aside.
"Aelia, come on, open the door." said Sasuke, "No. You went way out of line this time. I was wearing a skirt!" I heard the boy sigh from the other side of the door. "Aelia, please? I was just trying to make things feel normal for you again." My body went rigid, "I know but couldn't you have done something else? Like I don't know, do some other stuff we used to do together not… that…" the boy probably nodded from the other side of the door. "You always seem to be having fun when I pick you up. Until you need to come down that is… I promise I won't do it again… for a while…"
I let out a sigh, knowing that was the furthest we were going to get. I turned the knob and watched as the two men fell into the room. "Fine. Just promise not to pick me up when I'm wearing a skirt. Or anything revealing when Hidan and Kisame are around…" the Uchiha shrugged. "Deal." I showed him a small smile while helping him up. I then moved on to help Deidara but noticed he wasn't there. "Did he leave already?" I asked, my disappointment obvious in my voice.
"Yeah… I probably shouldn't have said that. Even though I don't regret it one bit." I let out a sigh, "You know Naruto would agree if he was here." I nodded, "You two are trying to find someone to blame. It was my fault just as much as his, I agreed to the plan and what it contained." Sasuke stiffened, "Oh so you're saying you were planning on getting-" I immediately cut him off.
"What I was planning for was what to do if it ever happened, and it failed alright? And that's nobody's fault other than mine. I was underprepared and overestimated my abilities. Now can we please drop this subject already?" Sasuke stiffened at my tone, it was probably the first time he heard me so annoyed. "You're blaming yourself which is even worse!" he exclaimed, angry beyond any means. "Can't you see what that's done to you?! You can't even look the guys in the eye because you're so terrified! Open your eyes, Aelia! You're trying to protect Deidara by taking the blame yourself."
He's wrong. It was my fault. I was the one who didn't heal my body in time. It was my fault I got drugged. Everything was my fault. "You're wrong!" I exclaimed, stomping my foot on the ground. "Try to convince me, not yourself." I averted my gaze and looked down, knowing that he was right. "Look. I cannot imagine how traumatizing this is for you, but you have to face the facts." said Sasuke, holding me by the shoulders.
"You agreed to a plan, not knowing what it entailed. That's on you. But Deidara was the one who created the plan in the first place. He was going to use you as bait and yeah, maybe this could've been prevented if you had just pretended to be drugged, but this isn't your fault. Alright? Please trust me when I say that." I nodded, deciding to listen to him. He's never been wrong before, I might as well trust him when it comes to this too. "But then why are you blaming Deidara?" The boy paused before answering, "That's just my overprotective side trying to fix the blame on someone. Don't worry about it, alright?" He patted my head gently, "Sometimes, you're worse than Naruto when it comes to these things." I murmured. Sasuke chuckled, "Perhaps. But that's because you're part of my clan and I care about you."
It had been a while since I'd heard Sasuke say that seriously. A smile tugged at my lips as I nodded, "I get that but you're overdoing it sometimes… or underdoing it if we talk about what happened with Hidan and Kisame." I glared at him, annoyed. "Yeah… I'm sorry about that one." I chuckled, ruffling my hair softly. "Out of the way." ordered Konan as she came into the room, pushing Sasuke away.
"Hey!" exclaimed the boy but one glare from the woman was enough to shut him up. "U-uh… Aelia you know what to tell her so I-I'll leave you to it. Bye!" he exclaimed, running out of the room quicker than I've ever seen him run before. "You really scare him." I said while the woman nodded. "That's the whole point. So… what did you need to tell me?" she asked, directing all of her attention to me. I walked towards the door and closed it.
"This is extremely personal… and I don't want to bother you by telling you about it because… what's done is done in the end…" the woman smiled at me and sent me an encouraging look. "I can't help you unless you tell me." I gulped before opening my mouth to speak.
"So… You know how… how…" tears filled my eyes, I really didn't want to talk about it, "How Deidara and I went on a mission a week ago?" the woman nodded, putting a hand on my shoulder and urging me to go on. The two of us sat on her bed as I continued to speak, "S-so… Something happened… on… on that mission." I said, wiping the tears away with my sleeve only to have double the amount pour out of my eyes.
"What happened? Did Deidara do something?" I shook my head, "W-we were supposed to bring down a s-sex trafficking r-ring… and we decided to u-use me as bait…" the look on the woman's face turned into that of horror as she understood where the story was getting at. "T-they drugged me b-b-but I overestimated my abilities and decided to let the drug stay in my s-system…" I said pausing to sob, "But after that… I-I was so weakened that I couldn't e-even use my c-chakra." I could see how hard she was trying to hold her reaction in.
Flashbacks of the events resurfaced as I told her what happened, "They beat me, starved a-and raped me, I didn't e-even have the strength to resist. T-they were f-five or six… I only remember the face of one of them… H-he was the most cruel, he would beat me with an iron rod, burn me, cut me…" I held my stomach as I felt the pain of being tortured by the men once more.
"I can't look any guy in the e-eye without seeing h-him. H-he's everywhere I look. E-everytime I look in a mirror, I-I just see him, smiling at me." I didn't bother to wipe my tears at this point, Konan listened as her hold on my shoulder tightened. "This man…" she said, trying to suppress her anger, "What did he look like?" Fear shot through me, "Y-you can't go look for him! He'll find me! Everything will be worse!" I exclaimed, tears running down my face. "Nothing will be worse because he'll be dead the moment I get my hands on him so now tell me Aelia. What did he look like?"
I choked on a sob and shook my head, "A description, Aelia." ordered the woman. I know she's trying to help me but I can't… if he finds me… I'm dead. "Aelia." said the woman, holding my shoulder tightly. "A description. Now." I caved and decided to tell her everything I remembered about him, "H-he had pale skin, almost white… L-long blonde hair… almost to his waist…" I shivered remembering his piercing red eyes, "A-and his eyes… they were red… blood red…" I said, getting a flashback of said man grabbing my face and forcing me to look at him.
"H-he was horrible…" I started, hiding my face in my hands as I continued sobbing. After I gave her the description, Konan hugged me and rubbed my back soothingly. "I promise you, I'll find this man and rip his guts out…" she whispered, hugging me a little tighter, I cried into her shoulder for I don't know how long, "It's okay, let it all out…" she whispered, rubbing my back in circles. I did as she said and let my sadness and anger out.
I cried myself to sleep that day. I woke up around two in the afternoon, feeling as though things were actually going to get better. I got out of bed and left the room, wanting to get a snack. I headed to the kitchen and poured myself a cup of tea, sipping it quietly while I searched for everyone. "There's no one here…" I mumbled, looking around the hideout.
"This place is literally empty." I breathed out, glad. "Lia-chan!" I heard from my back and let out a soft groan. "This place wasn't empty…" I mumbled, shooting Tobi a smile. "Hey Tobi, how are you?" I asked, avoiding his hug, "Tobi wants to know why Lia-chan is avoiding his hugs." exclaimed the boy, crossing his arms, "I cracked a rib on my last mission, I'm waiting to have more knowledge about bones and stuff to heal it." I lied walking past him. "Do you know where everyone is?" I asked finally. The boy shook his head. "We're alone. They all headed out to town." I nodded, scared that Konan had told someone about what happened.
"Did they go to a restaurant or something?" I asked, rubbing my chin. "No, they said they had some business in Konoha." said the boy. My eyes widened in fear as I knew what was about to come. "Ah, Leader-sama and Deidara-senpai also asked me to give you this." I cocked a brow as Tobi handed me a metal box with numbers going down on it. "I see… What is it?" I asked, looking at the numbers going down only to realise that it was a countdown.
"They said something about some power… Maybe they gave you a super power?" my eyes widened as I shot a horrified look at the machine, "This is…" I ran out of the hideout, charging my legs with chakra as I ran towards Konoha. He's going to kill them. He'll bring that back but they're still doing to die. "Come on, faster…" I exclaimed. "Only two more hours until the entire village explodes." I ran as fast as I could, the countdown seemingly becoming faster and faster. "No, no, come on, stop." I begged as the hours turned into minutes and the minutes turned into seconds.
Ten. I used every last bit of chakra I had. Nine. I started jumping from branch to branch. Eight. I can see smoke coming from somewhere. Seven. I spotted the tip of the Hokage tower. Six. I can see the gates. Five. I used my last bit of strength to jump. Four. I tripped and fell off the tree. Three. My leg is bleeding and my arm is broken. Two. My eyes widen in fear as I don't have enough time to heal myself. One. A loud bang is heard and everything goes black.
