He fell to the ground, breathing hard. The dirt was hot on his shoulders and back, baked in the sun. Any other time, he loved the feeling. It was rewarding, to work so hard and then go home to wash the grime away. Tetsuya always found joy in working himself to exhaustion. Master Hayate said it was an admirable trait. To be a swordmaster required dedication. Blood, sweat, and tears. Tetsuya's fingers curled tighter around the hilt of his sword, teeth gritting.

"Get up, Tetsuya. There's still more to be done."

The sun was high in the sky.

He wondered, if he laid there long enough, would Master Hayate chastise him? Would he calmly sit in the grass next to him again and wonder aloud at why he wasn't rising back up? His teacher never yelled or raised his voice. Never told him he was anything less than worthy.

"I didn't choose you to make you feel less-than, Tetsuya. That was your past. Not your future."

The skin on his face felt tight under the sun.

His left hand slammed into the dirt, fisting the grit into his palm. The grit pressed into his skin as his nails dug into the meat of his hand. "Damn it." He could feel the tears welling, but he refused to let them fall. It felt as if he'd been crying for days now.

"Hey, kid."

Tetsuya opened his eyes to see Genma-sensei backlit by the sun standing over him with a bottle of water held out. Letting out a breath, Tetsuya sat up and took the water. "Physical therapy go okay?"

"It went fine." Genma-sensei commented as he lowered himself onto the grass nearby. He shifted the senbon between his lips before pulling it from his teeth and setting it into his pack. He pulled a particularly long piece of grass out and set it between his teeth instead. "Nothing ever changes. You always lay flat-out in the dirt when there's perfectly good grass over here."

Saying nothing, Tetsuya glanced over his surviving teacher. Genma-sensei's leg was still wrapped in bandages and he looked winded, the crutches settled in the grass next to him. A flare of anger rushed through him, burning through his shoulders and arms. It struck him breathless. He thought he hated his family, his grandmother. No, he realized. What he felt for them wasn't nearly as potent as this.

"Why're you here?"

"Someone needs to make sure you don't overdo it."

Tetsuya barely bit back a scoff. "Like you're not overdoing it?"

The rage was still simmering, but Tetsuya tried to keep it controlled. He'd already done enough damage with his anger, snapping at Miho. Not telling her or Shin goodbye or good luck on their mission. Their mission to save Aoba-sensei, who was probably already dead. He'd let them go without saying anything and it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Shame. And a fear that something bad would happen. That they, like his Master, wouldn't come home. Vaguely, he saw Genma-sensei lift his brows before nodding.

"Yeah, well, I'm not the best example. I know that. But I am trying."

"Not to be a smartass, Boss, but 'trying' how? You're supposed to be at home resting."

Genma-sensei grimaced and rolled his eyes toward the sky, but he said nothing. Nothing reassuring. Nothing to make things better. Tetsuya doubted that Genma-sensei wanted to hear it himself, so how could he throw out platitudes he himself didn't believe? The same nervous, rage-induced nausea struck, and Tetsuya swallowed it back down, hiding the shaking of his hands by sliding his sword back into the sheath.

"I wasn't even his apprentice yet. Officially." Tetsuya grit his teeth so hard that his jaw hurt from the pressure of it. "He was waiting until I reached chūnin for the Fifth Level. I— Do I even have the right to call him my master?"

He heard a sigh and he looked over to see a frown on Genma-sensei's face. Not for the first time, Tetsuya thought his teacher had aged since he'd taken on Team Five. Losing Koji, Miho's capture and torture, whatever happened in the year he'd reentered ANBU, it'd taken its toll. Now, Aoba-sensei…and Master Hayate…

"Did he have the Will of Fire?"

The rage burned bright and Tetsuya shot to his feet. "Of course he— How can you ask that? He gave his life for—"

"What was his Will of Fire, Tetsuya?"

When Tetsuya didn't answer immediately, Genma-sensei let out a breath and pushed himself up, pulling the crutches from the ground. He tossed the piece of grass from between his lips to the ground. He withdrew a senbon and placed it between his lips again. Tetsuya realized, standing in front of his teacher, that he was nearly at eye-level. Genma-sensei sucked in a breath around the needle between his teeth.

"Come with me, kid."

"You shouldn't be—"

"Don't argue."

There was no challenging that tone. So, Tetsuya grabbed his shirt from the ground and hurried to his teacher's side. As he pulled the t-shirt on, he looked around to see that life in Konoha was going on as normal. Completely oblivious to the fact that they'd lost a good person. Completely unaware of how much the man who moved among them was in pain. The anger was hard to control, hard to push through, hard to silence. Letting out a shaky breath, Tetsuya stilled when they arrived to a particular crossroads. The sun seemed hotter. More like it was searing the skin of his face.

When the scar pulled just a bit to much, he stopped.

He went still.

"I— I can't—"

A few steps ahead, Genma-sensei paused and turned only his head. "Can't? I've never heard that word from you before."

"I can't go there."

"You couldn't answer my question, Tetsuya. If you can't answer that question, then the only place we're going is the one place you apparently don't want to go." Genma-sensei started walking again, making the turn left toward the eastern section of the village. Tetsuya felt sick seeing the sweat beading on his teacher's brow with the effort. He wasn't well enough for this yet.

If Genma-sensei kept pushing himself like this…

Anxiety ripped through him and Tetsuya was in front of his teacher in the next instant, putting a hand out to rest of his shoulder and stop his forward movement.

"Stop."

"You've got to do this, kid. I know you don't want to. I know it sucks. Hell, it's gonna be one of the most painful things you've ever done. But you have to do it and you can't put it off. The longer you do, the more it's gonna hurt." Genma-sensei's hand reached forward, settling on his chest. Tetsuya held his breath, wondering if he could feel the barely bridled rage that simmered there. "If you continue to let it sit here, it will eat you alive."

Tears burned in his eyes and Tetsuya quickly blinked them away. How could he say that it was already eating him alive? Swallowing down the swell of anxiety that threatened to choke him, Tetsuya looked down the street to where he knew Yūgao was sitting in her empty apartment. Where she was waiting for Tetsuya to come collect the sword his master had left for him. Where he would see— Tetsuya took a half-step backward and Genma-sensei's hand fell away.

He couldn't do this.

Before his teacher could say anything, Tetsuya ran.

Sweeping the bō under the legs of the approaching guard, Miho used the momentum to swing her feet around to knock the man attacking her from behind off his feet. She rose to her knees, slamming a fist down into his face before throwing him out of the way as another guard attacked, throwing five kunai in rapid secession. Miho blocked each one with her staff before grinning as the man was tackled by giant dog from behind. "Thanks for the assist, Ankamaru!"

Ankamaru barked and bounded off to Kiba, who was handling two guards at once closer to the entrance.

It'd been only three minutes since the extraction team had entered the facility from a hidden side entrance. In three minutes, a lot could happen. Looking to her left, Miho saw Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji mow down fifteen guards at once with one of their team techniques. Her brother was a human yo-yo controlled by Shikamaru's shadow string.

"Hey, you fat Konoha bitch!"

Rolling her eyes at the insult, Miho turned and readied herself for another fight, swinging her bō around to be held against her right side.

Before the guard even had a moment to move, Shin appeared behind him and snapped an open hand down on the back of his neck, eyes cold. Miho felt her mouth drop open before Shin winked and disappeared again, reappearing to bring a leg under the feet of what looked to be a lab patient going after Kiba.

A lab patient…

Miho could sense it, a shift in the air. As if the air itself was charged. Wrong. The air felt wrong. Like decay. The air smelled and felt stale as it filtered out of the open entrance. Sweeping around, she blocked another hail of kunai before Shin knocked that final guard unconscious. Then, she saw two figures stumble from the main entryway out into the sunlight. Two...monstrous figures. Then, two more. Then, three and four. Ten. Fifteen.

"You don't know him. Because if you did, you'd stay far away from this place."

More and more and more figures stumbled from the entrance, bodies shifted and mutilated and grotesque. Teeth protruding, puncturing through lips. Muscles misshapen and eyes yellow. A few had missing patches of hair or horn-like protrusions rising from their foreheads and temples. Their skin was mottled and darkened and bruised. Miho sucked in a gasp, leaping back to where Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji stood. "Kiba, Shin!" Ankamaru gave a bark as Kiba jumped onto his back, bounding back and away from the zombie-like people. Shin shushined out of the fray, arriving to Miho's side.

"The hell are those things?" Kiba questioned, looking disgusted. "They smell like death."

"I think…" Miho swallowed, trying to remember.

There was something she was forgetting.

It was right there, like something she ought to know but didn't. A red-head appeared in her mind, features vague but contorted in fear as he cradled his head. Jūgo. "Ino—" Ino flooded into her mind, back pressed against Chōji's chest as he held her upright. Miho felt Shin's arm come around her shoulder as her eyes slid out of focus with Ino's presence. The Images were there, blurred and vague. Bits and pieces, buried under other, more important Images.

Jūgo was the origin of the curse seal. A man that turned into a rage monster that could slaughter masses of people with no control. Sasuke had been able to stop him. But how? There were only a few memories of him, usually as a hulking figure at Sasuke's back. Rarely anything more.

Ino withdrew, but Miho could feel a lingering sense of pity and determination.

"Shit."

Miho drew her eyes back to the forty-three people that filed out of the entrance.

"Are these people…experiments?" Chōji wondered, watching as the people stumbled over the rocky ground. His voice was heartbroken, empathetic. Some looked to be elders, some children. Orochimaru truly was a monster. Miho felt sick when a young man, perhaps her age or a year older, stumbled before hissing. His hair was a dull green and his eyes a sickly yellow, skin darkened and leather-like. Beside him, a young girl— perhaps ten or eleven— growled and shook the purple hair out of her eyes.

"This is sick." Ino answered, pushing herself upright. Miho glanced down to see that Ino's lips were tilted into a determined frown. "I knew he was a sick bastard, but this is—"

There were only about twenty paces between the teams and the victims when they all collectively shrieked and charged. Miho jumped and twisted, hitting three in as many moves at the base of their skulls. They collapsed immediately, as if their strings had been cut. Nearby, Shin struck another two so hard that they flew back and hit the canyon wall.

"Do we kill 'em or do we just knock 'em out?"

"Seals!" Shikamaru called from where he had what looked to be sixteen experiments secured with his shadow. "We need to seal them. Miho— you're the fastest of us here. Drop the weights." Miho jumped back and away from the battle, removing half of the weights from her legs once she was behind the line. She felt nearly weightless for a moment as she adjusted her stance and slung the bō to her back. "Kiba, you're on a track and capture team, how many stasis seals do you have?"

"Twenty-five! Miho, catch!" Miho caught the pack as Kiba bounded by on Ankamaru. "I count forty-three freaky experiments."

"We'll take care of the rest." Shikamaru said, glancing toward Miho with a nod. "Go."

The wind was the only sound she heard as it rushed past her ears. She could barely feel her feet touch the ground as she slapped seal after seal on the foreheads of the monsters. They dropped, in stasis for a transportation scroll. Admittedly, she found herself aiming for the children first, securing them before moving on to the others. Not as fast as Lee or Gai-sensei, but closer that many of her peers to that kind of speed. She slapped on the final tag and stopped, watching as the man dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

Her momentum was slower to stop than Lee's or Gai-sensei's due to her weight, so Miho swept the bō from her back and slammed it into the ground, using it to swing around to a stop.

Miho glanced around to see that Shikamaru now had the remaining experiments in his possession.

As soon as his shadow withdrew, the others knocked the test subjects unconscious.

"My, my, but you are fast. It seems Aoba's memories did you little justice in that regard."

A chill made Miho shudder as she looked up, her breath caught in her throat.

That's what makes us...

Orochimaru was there.

Shine on, shine on.

His attention was solely focused on her, head tilted as if examining something interesting. Miho felt sick, tightening her grip on her bō. There was a roiling sensation in her gut, a sense that everything had once again shifted. That the world had shifted on its axis.

"Interesting, indeed. Evidence that life does go on beyond death. That the soul persists while the body dies. Nevermind the tenpenchii that roars within you…You're an interesting specimen."

Aoba-sensei had…

Specimen.

Miho forced herself to remain calm and shift her weight. The moment she panicked was the moment that Orochimaru would win.

She'd trained for this.

"Don't worry, my dear. I gave Aoba a gift in exchange for his knowledge. Equivalent exchange. Time will tell how that gift is received, I suppose." A gift? Bile rose up her throat. The Curse Seal? Orochimaru chuckled, but it sounded more like hissing. Miho felt a shiver run down her spine. Would Aoba-sensei survive the Curse Seal of Heaven? "Did you know that I, too, was once charged with treason against Konoha?"

"What—" Kiba began to shout.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, eyeing her critically. Miho had seen that expression before. Once on the face of an old shinobi and the other attempting to figure out where she would fit within his plans for power. How she could be used. "Konoha does not understand difference, you know, those who are unique or have knowledges that are outside of what they deem normal. We are not so different, you and I. My old fool of a teacher valued knowledge, but not knowledge that deviated from his own…perspective."

Miho was stunned that this was the route he was taking. He wasn't wrong about the Third. She had stood in front of him, a child solider, as he declared her a traitor without full consideration of the facts. He allowed an evil man to do as he wanted while turning a blind eye. Orochimaru must have seen a flicker of agreement in her eyes because a smirk pulled at his lips. She glanced at the warped bodies as they slowly shifted to normal. Normal children, young adults, elders. Bodies upon bodies. Her voice didn't shake.

"We are not the same."

He looked as if he disagreed. Regardless, he shrugged. The move seemed almost elegant as wind drew his hair away from his face. "You must know that second-hand evidence is not as reliable as evidence gathered at the source." The implication was clear.

Miho pulled in a breath to answer when Chōji's hulking form appeared in front of her. Then, Ino and Shikamaru. Shin was at her back a second later. Even if Kiba didn't understand what was happening, he also shifted. A sardonic smile played on Orochimaru's lips at the defense, a bit of amusement lighting up his yellow eyes as they focused on her brother.

"Ah, yes, I imagine you would be quick to defend her. What with your failure protect her and her knowledge before. Aoba had very pronounced feelings about that particular betrayal."

Chōji tensed and Miho reached forward to settle a hand on his back.

Orochimaru's eyes then glanced to Ino and Shikamaru in turn before he outright laughed.

"It was never set in stone. Nothing is. You are fools to think that anything will proceed the same now that the changes have begun. Distortions are natural. A distortion stands at your back."

Shin.

He would be dead.

The ground shook. Miho saw Orochimaru disappear just before Chōji was yanked forward and thrown by what appeared to be a snake toward the entrance of the hideout. He twisted in the air so that he landed on his feet just above the door, his impact sending out a shockwave. Miho pulled the bō up just in time to counter the blade that emerged from the mouth of a snake. The snakes were trailing out of Orochimaru's arms as he sent another ten or so toward Kiba and Shin.

Left! Ino's voice called in her mind and Miho ducked, sweeping her leg around to slam into the snake's head. She lurched back, dodging snakes as Shikamaru and Ino set to attack Orochimaru from the sides. There was no way to beat Orochimaru at their level. They weren't nearly prepared for him yet. Miho dodged another snake then another and another, barely blinking before she was slammed into the canyon wall. Only just barely lifting her staff in time to stop Orochimaru's blade from striking her chest.

There was a pressure against her abdomen.

Her feet weren't touching the ground and suddenly, Orochimaru was in front of her again, hand around her throat.

"You were a traitor." Miho tried to gasp for air as the pressure of his hand increased. "I wonder what would be the interaction between the tenpenchii and my gift…"

How incredibly strong was he?

Growling, Miho channeled calories into her arms and hands. They burned gold as she grasped his arm tight enough that she felt something give way under his pale skin. He hissed, pulling her forward and slamming her into the canyon wall so hard that she saw stars.

"How is it you came to be here, hm?"

Miho felt her chakra bubbling and burning in her gut. The sky was growing dark. Or was that her vision? Hissing, he leaned forward to speak lowly as a battle raged behind him between a clone and her friends. She could hear Chōji calling her name.

"How did you remember? How did your soul make it here? These are answers that Aoba's knowledge cannot give me. Perhaps you—"

Pushing chakra into her hands, she felt them expand as slammed them both back into the canyon wall with as much force as she could manage. At the same time, she felt the wild tenpenchii chakra begin to fringe and tug and pull with her lack of focus. His hand and presence disappeared as the canyon wall collapsed. Instinct guided her arms upward as large boulders struck them and tumbled off to the sides.

Her vision went black as she fell to the ground, coughing. Somewhere, she heard the sound of an impact. Small rocks peppered her skin as she shockwave hit. The next moment, Shin was at her side, shielding her from the rest of the fallout. Her arms shrank to normal again, burning.

"It is good to see you, Kakashi."

"I can't say the same, Orochimaru."

"How is that student of yours? Uchiha Sasuke disappeared from the village. I would imagine he's hidden in ANBU now? Surely he knows that even his teacher doesn't stand a chance against me." Orochimaru's voice was matter-of-fact as if reciting a recipe. A kind of dull, bored observation. "His eyes are not a priority in my plans at the moment. It's funny how knowledge can give you a different perspective." Miho swallowed painfully, pushing herself up to stand. Shin was an unshakable figure at her side. She saw her brother, Ino, and Shikamaru a few feet away. They were breathing hard and sporting knew cuts and gashes.

If Kakashi-taicho had left the other team, then did that mean Aoba-sensei had been retrieved?

Miho felt the ground quiver and shake.

A battle was raging nearby, maybe even inside the hideout.

Jūgo.

Lowering herself down, Miho retrieved her staff and stood again, keeping her attention on Orochimaru's smirk. His eyes flickered to her once more, smirk widening into a smile. It sent shivers down her spine.

Kakashi-taicho shifted, visible eye narrowed. "Get out of here, all of you. Shikamaru, you're on point. Move back to the secondary location. Go now."

Before Miho had a moment to move, she saw the snake flying in her direction. Weights off already, she turned and grabbed Shin, throwing him over her shoulder as she moved out of the way. At the same time, Shin sent a fire jutsu over her shoulder, incinerating the snake as they escaped.

As she landed on top of the canyon wall, Miho remembered the tense exchange in the bowels of Konoha, Sasuke passed out in the middle of a seal. Kakashi's harsh breathing and the fear in his face as he faced Orochimaru. The way he shook in the shadows as Orochimaru left him alive. Now, Kakashi-taicho stood at the mouth of the canyon and lifted his forehead protector from his sharingan eye.

I can kill you as you kill me.

Leaving Kakashi-taicho behind wasn't an option.

"Miho! C'mon!"

"We can't leave him." Miho responded, looking over to Shikamaru. That was Kakashi down there. Kakashi. She held Shikamaru's gaze. "We can't." His expression was impassive, controlled, but Miho saw the slightest shine of conflict in his dark eyes. He wanted to follow orders and get everyone to safety, but the cost of that…"We need to get him out of there."

"The hell! What is it about this mission?" Kiba snarled, gesturing in the direction of the secondary entrance which exploded as a collection of figures leapt away to a nearby ledge. Miho could just barely make out Sakura's hair and a flash of orange. Jūgo. "Everything's goin' to shit!"

"Ino." Miho saw her friend straighten, eyes narrowing at Shikamaru for a moment. They silently communicated before Ino dragged a hand through her hair. Shikamaru let out a snort. "Handle it. Kiba, go with her. Tell Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei the situation over here. We'll rendezvous at the secondary. Then, we need to be ready to run."

Shikamaru was sending Ino to deal with Jūgo.

"Be careful. He's—" Miho stopped short. He's dangerous seemed to fall short.

"I got it." Ino nodded, confident, and leapt away. Kiba followed while Ino's voice rang clear in Miho's mind, Maybe I can reach him. Look after the boys.

Miho swallowed and rolled her shoulders, looking down at Kakashi and Orochimaru, who were both still talking. How did they get away from him and get out of this if there was no one as powerful as Itachi, the Third, or the Fifth around? Sasuke overpowered him when he was preparing to shift to a new body. Arguably at his weakest. Best Miho could tell, the body he was in currently was healthy enough. Hell, there were flashes of Orochimaru facing down Naruto's partial tailed beast transformation. Defeating a Sannin wasn't an option.

And Miho knew, he wasn't going to lose interest.

"What a drag."

Huffing a caustic laugh, Miho lowered herself down to kneel at the ledge, watching a rapid exchange of jutsu, taijutsu, and dodged blades. Kakashi-taicho landed a few hits, obviously irritating the snake bastard. Still, it wasn't enough. Kakashi was powerful, but he wasn't at his most powerful just yet. Not to mention, he likely used some chakra before he likely sensed Orochimaru.

Alone, he was no match for the Sannin.

Sucking in a breath, Miho recoiled as a gigantic snake appeared in the gorge, completely destroying the entrance leaving nothing but a hole in the wall of the canyon and crushing the bodies of the test subjects that had been rendered unconscious only minutes before. A white-hot flare of rage hit Miho at the sight. Children, elders, people crushed under that snake. Defenseless people. Sick son of a bitch.

The summon changed things. Miho could sense it in the way Shikamaru shifted his stance. "We just need to keep everyone alive until reinforcement arrives. Miho, can you summon the Great Bear?" Miho watched with wide eyes as Kakashi-taicho took a hit and slammed back into a boulder, shattering it upon impact. By the time Orochimaru's snakes struck the ruined boulder, Kakashi was on the other side of the clearing, breathing heavily with his forehead protector revealing his Sharingan. "Can you do it, Miho?"

Shikamaru's voice didn't hold any doubt. He knew she could do it.

"I can do it."

Shikamaru knelt down, eyes skittering from one side of the canyon to the other. Then, to the unadorned opening of the hideout and back again. That opening lead straight into the mountain. Shin hummed, eyes narrowed. His eyes met Miho's for a moment before flickering down to the fight. "Bury him," Shin said. Kakashi-taicho jumped back, breathing hard after another fierce exchange with the Sannin. Chōji shifted, ready. Shin's voice was like a blade. "Bury him alive."

A dark sort of satisfied smile pulled at Shikamaru's lips.

See, you and I have very different beliefs.

"Yeah. Good plan." His eyes flickered up to Miho. "Go!"

Biting her hand, Miho leapt to the open mouth of the gorge at the water's edge and slammed her hand down into the rock, pushing a mixture of her chakra and tenpenchii into the seal. It writhed around her own chakra core as it was exchanged. More. More… The wild chaotic chakra poured into the seal. "Summoning Jutsu!" The ground below her transformed to fur in the thick grey smoke that smelled of salt and burning leaves. She was lifted higher and higher until she stood at equal height with the Snake Boss summon.

"Cub," Lord Ki acknowledged. Miho felt the Bear beneath her shift, taking in the situation. "Is that—"

"Lord Ki, please be careful."

Orochimaru chuckled. Miho felt Lord Ki shift again, a growl rattling her bones. "I suppose you are, indeed, your father's daughter. Okuda Keisuke." Hearing him mention her father's name made something in her snap into place. He didn't deserve to speak that name. He'd ruined so many lives. He helped Danzō. He'd murdered children, mutilated them. He'd tortured Aoba-sensei. It was his fault. He didn't deserve to live.

The sensation was darker than any emotion she'd ever felt.

Killing Intent.

Bright yellow eyes flashed in the sunlight before that was blocked by clouds.

Carefully, Miho began to pull the tenpenchii more tightly around her core, feeling it gather and circle as the clouds began to darken overhead. She could feel it charging the air. The chaos of nature. The energy was upset by it being so concentrated. Balance was overrated. Her power was not about balance. She struggled and struggled to find balance before. Until she realized that balance was everything she was not.

"I remember Okuda Keisuke's arrival to Konoha. His father barely escaped the Second Raikage with his life. His skin was seared away, melting off of his body. The last of the Okuda." He sounded amused. Miho gritted her teeth. "An interesting specimen for so many reasons…"

"Manda. It has been quite some time." Lord Ki acknowledged as the Snake reared upward to strike.

"Ki."

"I told you to retreat." Kakashi-taicho commented from where he stood behind her on Lord Ki's head. He was breathing hard. As one might if they'd gone against a Sannin. "You're disobeying a director order."

"People who abandon their comrades…"

Her voice trailed off and she felt Kakashi stiffen at her back. He had never said those words to her, but she knew them. He knew how she knew them. Miho swallowed down her anxiety and squared her feet to her shoulders, staring across the canyon at the monster. She'd once reconciled herself to dying at his hand once. Before Chōji told their father.

"Orochimaru."

Blinking away the memory, Miho took a breath. "You're not going to live to see that future." Her voice was confident, sure. Emboldened by the reassuring presence of the Great Bear.

Orochimaru's eyes widened a bit, surprised. "Your precious future relies upon me to raise the Hokages to turn the war's tide. I cannot be defeated."

"That's your fatal flaw. Every character in every story has one."

His brows rose as he chuckled. "Flaw?"

"You know what defeated you in the end?"

Miho felt the tenpenchii roaring around and around and around, gathering speed and momentum and energy as the skies continued to darken. Lightning was streaking from one cloud to another overhead. She wondered if he could feel it. It was easy to sense chaos when it was coming at you, when it was staring you down. The whirlwind, a hurricane, Gaara. Miho knew that all too well.

"Your own arrogance!"

She leapt and her hands flew into a series of seals. She felt Kakashi-taicho leap away the opposite direction, seeming to understand that he may get caught in the crossfire and that there was a plan in motion. She sensed him land near Shin. Her brother was in position. She could sense him behind her and to the left, on the other side of the ledge. This would require Shikamaru's aim and Chōji's power.

Trust me, Miho.

Lord Ki rushed forward, gigantic claws grabbing onto Manda's body as the snake attempted to encircle him. "Not today, Manda. Not at the risk of my cub." Lord Ki buried his claws into the snake's skin, keeping the snake from biting him. Miho had thought that would be impossible.

Miho hit the peak of her jump. She felt the energy focusing to a single point, the singularity of a storm. All of its energy and power. She folded her hands together and aimed, giving the chaos a single point at the cross of her knuckles to converge upon. There was a thrill in it. The thrill was what she chased. She could hear guitars from a distant memory— windows rolled down and the radio blasting. The bass shook her chest.

"Storm Release: Strike!"

The focus of the storm was now between her palms, energy concentrated into a single point. Miho released the volley of purple energy, attempting to pinpoint each potential way that he could escape. Orochimaru smiled and moved. He was fast, so fast that the strikes of energy just couldn't seem to hit.

Orochimaru twisted and turned, sending a crush of earth toward her with the ferocity of a tidal wave. Even as she dodged, something slammed into her stomach, sending her flying back. She righted herself in the air, just barely dodging a sword strike. "You and your knowledge are mine, girl." There was something about his eyes as he said that…It made her feel sick, nauseous.

He was in position.

Hearing the grind behind her, Miho pushed off the ground and moved faster than she'd ever moved before.

"No."

Miho channeled all of her chakra and calories into her arms, strengthening the muscles there to pull Lord Ki out of the way just in time for Chōji to barrel through in his Multi-Size form. The gigantic Bear let out a grunt of approval as Chōji ground Orochimaru into the hideout's entrance while the Snake boss watched with a kind of apathetic disappointment. Shikamaru's shadows disconnected from Chōji's while the mountainside quivered and shook.

Sucking in a breath, Miho sat Lord Ki down and watched as Shin sent an earth jutsu toward the already unstable mountain. It quivered and shook, but it wasn't quite enough to bring it down.

Swallowing, Miho watched as Kakashi-taicho landed a few steps ahead.

Snake seal. And his hand slammed to the ground, sending waves of earth and rock rippling toward the mountain.

The eastern face gave way.

Chōji ground into the mountainside a bit more before he reversed his roll and shrank as he did so, skidding to a stop with one leg bent and a hand on the ground. His back was to her as the mountain collapsed in front of him. Even if she couldn't see his face, she could imagine the determined set of his jaw and narrowed eyes.

Miho felt herself smiling a bit.

The little girl in her couldn't help but think that her brother was cool in that moment.

"Seems your summoner continues to be unworthy of you, Manda." Lord Ki commented off-handedly as the Snake hissed and coiled. Still, Manda appeared to agree as he disappeared with an arrogant sniff. A large claw lowered to the ground in front of Miho and she immediately jumped up, turning to her captain and brother. Lord Ki moved out of the valley toward the northwest, grabbing Shin and Shikamaru in his paw as he went. "Hold tight to my fur, cubs." Miho felt the fur of her vest brushing against her cheeks as the wind picked up. Glancing around, she saw Kakashi-taicho grasping to the fur to her right.

His eyes promised a talk in the future as he pulled his forehead protector back down.

The roar of the mountain as it collapsed was louder than anything Miho'd ever heard before. Louder than bombs, louder than the winds that killed her. Louder than the silence of the cell. Deafening. Even if Orochimaru wasn't dead beneath that rubble, it would at least take him some time to escape it. And the Snake Boss wasn't likely to help him. Maybe, just maybe, it would ruin that new body of his.

The thought of his body mangled beneath that mountain sent a kind of vicious gratification through Miho that made her grip tighter to Lord Ki's fur. He should suffer.

"There's the other team."

The mountain was still collapsing and the air was filled with pulverized rock and dust, but Miho could just barely make out other team bounding away from the area of the hideout. She tried to pinpoint who was who but the dust made it impossible until they were in-range.

Lord Ki stopped in a clearing about ten klicks from the destroyed mountain. Miho slid off, coming to stand in front of him. He drew up on his hind legs, looking down at Miho with what she knew to be a pleased smile. His eyes flickered over to where Shikamaru, Shin, Kakashi-taicho, and her brother stood. "You did well to call upon me, cub. Especially in answer to the Snake." Miho reached forward the set a hand on his knee.

"Thank you for helping us."

"The Bears protect their own." He smiled in return, head lifting. "More of yours are approaching. Summon Shinrin when you return to your village. She will want to be sure you are safe." He nodded to the others and disappeared in puff of brown smoke.

Miho turned, meeting Chōji's eyes.

"She'll try to get past Orochimaru."

She remembered what he looked like back then. A child, like her. Terrified for his sister. His cheeks were rounder then. His hands more doughy. His eyes were determined back then, too. Since then, Miho had never seen her brother the same. At some point, Miho was sure, she hated him. Hated that he'd betrayed her. But…Facing Orochimaru now...

For some reason, Miho felt…like she saw him again. Her brother.

"Incoming."

Not a second after Kakashi-taicho's announcement, the other team burst through the trees.

Miho's eyes immediately fell to Aoba-sensei, who was slung over Shino's back with Sakura at his side, hands glowing green as she healed on-the-move. They were covered with cuts and what were sure to be bruises. Ino had a particularly gruesome cut to her shoulder, which she was self-healing. The worst among them though, was Kurenai.

Kurenai's leg looked to be broken. Judging by the protrusion midway down her calf, it was a bad break. It wasn't even splinted yet. Asuma was holding her gently, careful not to jostle her too much.

Standing off to the side, looking very out-of-place, was a tall orange-headed young man.

"And who's this?" Kakashi questioned, clearly on-guard. Miho had to hand it to him. He was fulfilling his dramatic duties. He was privy to the Images, so the act was obviously for show. He knew who this was.

Clearly, Asuma was less than amused, judging by the look he sent Kakashi-taicho's way.

"Jūgo." Ino commented with a wave of her hand. Jūgo glanced to her as if for guidance. Miho met Ino's eyes and saw a flash of how she'd used her family's techniques to subdue his rage state and undo his transformation. Smiling a bit, Miho glanced over to Shikamaru. He looked damn proud, if a bit smug. "He's turned to Konoha with an offer of what information he has." Asuma shrugged his shoulders, indicating his acceptance of the turn.

Kakashi looked apathetic, zeroing in on Aoba and Shino. "Is he good for another couple hours?"

"He's stable enough for transport." Sakura reported. "I have him in stasis and I'll keep him in it until we arrive back to Konoha. Then, Master Tsunade might be able to do more." She bit her lip, obviously thinking over what she should say. "There's something disrupting his chakra. If we don't get it stabilized in the next day or so, he won't make it." The Curse Seal.

Everyone who knew about the Images knew what rested at the crook of Aoba-sensei's neck. If he really did survive, his life would never be the same.

"Let's move out."

Drawing in a stabilizing breath, Chōji ate a few chips and let the salt melt on his tongue. It was night. A small fire at the center of camp cast flickering shadows over the teams. No one was sleeping. They were only stopping for a couple hours to recover before making the rest of the trip to Konoha. They were only three hours out at full-pace, but the injuries were worse than they seemed just out of the battles.

Nearby, Ino was speaking quietly with Miho, who pressed a cool rag to Aoba-sensei's head with a frown that pulled lines down on the sides of her mouth. The man looked as if he'd been taken apart and reassembled. His nails were bloody and missing. His toes were broken. It was sickening to realize that Orochimaru was fully capable of such a nightmare. Given the three tomoe on Aoba-sensei's neck, the nightmare wasn't over.

A kind of fullness settled in Chōji's stomach. That bastard was buried. He hoped the mountain ground him into nothing. He hoped it pulverized him, removing all traces.

He hadn't thought he could bring down an entire mountain, but then he'd felt it give way. As he spun, he forced just a bit more. Just a bit more. And, the whole time, Chōji couldn't get his own voice out of his head.

"Orochimaru."

"Chōji—"

And just like that, with a single damn name, he'd doomed his sister to Danzō's hands. He could still hear how much she was hurting. How he'd betrayed her.

Now, as he watched his sister help Sakura and Ino tend to Aoba-sensei, he wondered if he would do the same thing again. To keep her from facing that monster.

That monster who wanted her.

Her knowledge. Her.

Chōji chewed the chips a bit too hard and recoiled when his jaw panged with the pressure. If Orochimaru somehow survived, Chōji wanted to be the one to destroy him. Not because of the atrocities he'd committed. Not because he crushed innocents under his selfish pursuits. Chōji wanted to destroy him…because— "You and your knowledge are mine, girl." He'd heard Orochimaru's voice as he'd attacked. He folded the chip bag closed and pushed it back into his armor. Orochimaru would never lay a hand on her. Not her.

Chōji would kill him.

"Calm down." Shikamaru's voice interrupted his thoughts. He glanced over to see Shikamaru leaning against the tree, eyes sharp and reflecting the firelight. "You're thinking on it too much. Until we know things for sure, don't overthink it." Chōji followed Shikamaru's eyes to Miho and Ino, who were still speaking quietly with Sakura. Hinata approached a moment later, settling down next to Ino. "You brought down a mountain on him."

"Might not have been enough."

"Probably wasn't." Shikamaru nodded.

Chōji sighed, shaking his head. He'd never felt so…violent. Vindictive.

"You protected her back there. Twice over." Shikamaru's tone was even, matter-of-fact. "You fought a Sannin. You ate that poison."

Looking down at his hands, Chōji wondered at the calluses along his fingers and palms. He'd been working for so long. Working to get stronger. To prepare. His hands still carried the dust of that mountain. His hands felt larger somehow. "I need to keep getting stronger." Next time, what if Shikamaru wasn't around to plan? What if Shin didn't destabilize the mountain to bring it down in time? What if Kakashi-sensei didn't provide the final push? "I'm going to get stronger."

Shikamaru didn't respond.

Miho pushed herself up, brushing off her battle-worn clothing. Everyone looked the same, as if they'd been in a fight to the death. Chōji watched as she pulled something out of her pocket— a packet of cookies— and approached the red-head who was guarded by Shino and Kiba. He knew, from the Images, what the man was capable of, but he also knew that Ino was monitoring him closely.

His eyes cut to Ino, who was also observing the exchange with a small smile.

His sister lowered herself down onto her haunches. Jūgo looked at her, obviously trying to keep himself from moving away. "Have you had anything to eat lately?"

To no one's surprise, Kiba answered. "No, I haven't. Thanks for offerin'!"

With an easy smile, Miho pulled out Akimichi-made dog treats, holding one out to Ankamaru in the palm of her hand. Kiba's mouth dropped open, eyes wide. Before he could say anything, Jūgo responded quietly. So quietly that Chōji had to strain to hear him.

"I— I haven't. I haven't had anything to eat, Miss…"

"Miho. And you don't need to call me 'miss.' Here." She handed him the pack of cookies. "You don't have any nut allergies, do you? Gluten?" His brows rose in question. She waved her hand at him. "When you're from a food-oriented clan, you ask these things. Those have nuts in them so if you're allergic…"

He looked a bit bashful as he glanced up through his lashes and Chōji had to smile a little. Despite being a potential rage monster, Jūgo was kind. He had been in the Images as well, what few existed of him in Her memories. "I'm not allergic to nuts." It was said as if it were the strangest string of words he'd ever constructed. And this man was used for experiments by Orochimaru.

"Good, good. Eat up. Kiba, stop gawking at me. I told you we Akimichi bring dog food on missions with nin-dogs."

"I didn't think you brought any for Ankamaru!"

Miho rolled her eyes, sharing an exasperated look with Shino. Shino didn't quite return it, but he did adjust his glasses, which was pretty effusive for him.

"Alright! Everyone start packing. We're off again in five." Asuma-sensei called as he stood. Carefully, he pulled Kurenai onto his back, carefully keeping her splinted leg from jostling too much. She grimaced, the etching of pain making her seem paler in the fire and moonlight. Chōji pushed himself up, holding out a hand for Shikamaru.

"Got a cookie for me, then?"

Miho was already walking away, waving Kiba off over her shoulder.

She arrived to his side just as Shin returned from his perimeter run. Her teammate reported that the area was clear before hurrying to Miho's side, eyes quickly taking stock that her injuries hadn't changed. Chōji understood the instinct. He did the same practically every time he saw her. With a small, tired smile, Miho handed him one of her cookies and patted his upper arm. There was something there in that smile that made something tight in his chest release.

Like indigestion that was miraculously gone.

"A few more hours, everyone. Move out."

As the morning sun rose over Konoha, Tetsuya was kneeling in the cemetery. His sword rested across his thighs as he focused on his breathing. In and out. In and out. There was no way to be a swordsman without perfect control of every muscle. Every instinct. Every sense. When the morning light broke over the trees, shining into his eyes, he felt his control falter and shatter as his breathing sped up. He felt the panic building and the rage returning. Controlling it made everything hurt. His chest felt like it was on fire. Like the sun rose and set him aflame.

"He'd be hurt."

Tetsuya jerked at the sudden voice, opening his eyes to find Yūgao standing just a few feet away. Hurriedly, he stood up and bowed, trying not to grimace at being found.

"He'd be hurt that you're doing this to yourself." Her voice was calm and tired. Vaguely, Tetsuya wondered if she was sleeping. If she was eating. He hadn't been, but she was pregnant. She had to take care of herself. With a couple steps toward him, she looked down at the stone that bore his master's name. "How are you feeling, Tetsuya?"

"I..."

She seemed to sense that he wouldn't be honest. That he'd tell her what he thought she wanted to hear. Instead, she pulled in a breath and nodded. Tetsuya gripped his sword so tightly as she spoke, he felt his fingers begin to ache. "I'm exhausted. I can't sleep. I can't eat, but I know I need to. Nothing tastes right. And I get angry. That people can live normally while I'm feeling..." She trailed off and looked upward, toward the lightening morning sky. "I worry for my friends. For Aoba. Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai. Iwashi. Raido. I'm scared. To be raising this one alone." Tetsuya felt sick as she pressed a hand to her abdomen. "How are you, Tetsuya?"

He looked away, turning his face up to the brightening sky.

Toward the west, in the sea of light blue and yellow, the moon hung behind some speckled light clouds. He felt the emotion hit him with such force that he couldn't swallow it down. He couldn't stop the tears. "I'm so...angry. I- I want to kill the bastards that took him. I want to cut them limb from limb. I want to destroy them and everything they stand for. Tear them apart. I-I hate...I hate that people are going about their days as if everything is normal. As if everything is okay when-when..." He stopped, feeling something like a sob building in his throat. He choked it back down, tightening his hold on the sword.

It hurt.

He curved forward until he was curled almost entirely into his thighs.

Yūgao turned. He could feel her shift. "You can feel like that, Tetsuya. No one is saying that you can't be angry. I-I feel that way, too." He squeezed his eyes shut. He felt her moving closer until a gentle hand rested on his shoulder. "Gekkō believed in protecting others. He died protecting. He told me...He told me that he would never stop working hard because he needed to protect me and to protect his friends. To protect you." Tetsuya opened his eyes and watched as she knelt down beside him. "Tetsuya, let's make a promise."

"A promise?"

She hummed in answer, looking up to the sky. "With the moon as a witness, here, I swear to you and you swear to me, we will get through this...and you will complete the Fifth Level to become a Master of the Moon Style."

Tetsuya gritted his teeth before releasing a breath, looking up to where the moon still hung overhead. "I-I promise." He looked down again, over to the sad eyes of Hayate Yūgao. "In the name of my master, I'll protect you... and your child...and my master's friends. And my friends. I'll do it."

"I believe you, Tetsuya. And I will help you get there. I will teach you the Fifth Level."

A little while later, after a bit more crying and talking Tetsuya walked away from the dango shop where he'd left Yūgao to meet with a few friends for breakfast feeling just a bit lighter. It didn't feel quite so hard to breathe. He'd spent hours at the memorial, hours sitting in the cemetery. Miho would chastise him for forgetting to eat. Shin would be mother-henning him into getting a shower. Koji would... Tetsuya stopped, pulling in a breath. He forgot to visit Koji while at the cemetery.

"Kid."

Eyes refocusing, Tetsuya watched as Genma-sensei hurried down the road toward him, not using the crutches properly in his haste. Worry was etched into the lines of his face and the way he rolled his senbon from one side of his mouth to the other. Immediately, Tetsuya was on-guard. "Genma-sensei? What're you-"

"They're back. Let's go."

"Back? Already?" A mission that quick was either a good sign or a bad sign. "Do you know if they're okay?"

"No word. Raidō came to get me. They encountered Orochimaru. No casualties."

"Holy shit."

Genma-sensei shot him a look before growling under his breath at his slow speed. He stopped and turned. "Kid, I ain't above askin' right now. I'll sacrifice my pride so we can get there quicker. Can you carry me?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Tetsuya lifted his brows. "They're gonna give you hell over it."

"Whoever does can kiss my ass. These are my kids. This is Aoba."

The steely resolve in Genma-sensei's eyes was enough to spur Tetsuya into action, pulling his teacher over his shoulders and taking the crutches in hand to leap up onto the rooftops. Both of his teachers were men who valued others above themselves, who did whatever they could to protect those they cared for. Who would sacrifice themselves for their precious people. "If they give you a hard time, Boss, let me at 'em. They can have a conversation with my sword."

Genma-sensei chuckled from his awkward position across Tetsuya's back.

"And thank you, Genma-sensei. I understand now."

"His Will of Fire... You found it then?"

Tetsuya smiled, glancing up at the moon in the morning sky overhead. "Yeah. I did."