Naruto: A Red Eye Hidden by Shadow

by Tatanka4Life

On the fateful night of the Uchiha Massacre, a girl of Uchiha and Nara blood is spared and left with no memories of her past. Now she must walk on the path left by her family to help her build a new future for herself. Her path will be hard, full of struggles and pain, but as long as she has her friends and family at her side she will keep forging ahead, even if it was a drag.

127. Chapter 126: Ambush

Chapter 126

Ambush: Battle Against the Sound Village!

Beneath the sky airbrushed with veins of gold, streaks of lavenders and dusky blues, the shinobi of the Sound Village traversed swiftly and silently through the shady groves and dense forests as if pursuing a fleeing enemy.

They knew the lay of the land well. They had traveled its hills, rolling endlessly along the horizon from the southern border with the Land of Fire, to the ocean coast in the north; they'd hidden among its abundant woodlands, home to creatures, critters and flora one could eat safely, be eaten by, or experience true suffering via poisonous and venomous toxins.

The Sound shinobi had learned all of the hidden trails. They had trained in these Lands for potential invasions. Even those who hadn't originally called this Land home possessed a comprehensive knowledge of its geography.

As the evening sun descended from its zenith, the incandescent orb peeking through the vast range of hills, drawing their stout outlines and sloping contours with brilliant golden rays, shimmering like fish scales in the flooded arable lands, the shinobi of the Sound Village reached their objective.

The unit surrounded the abandoned mountain temple.

Inside, the intruders awaited. The Leaf shinobi, comprised of nothing more than children, remained entirely unaware of their presence.

Numbering twenty-seven, the shinobi's—attired in the standard Sound Village uniform composed of grey and black garbs, snake patterned scarves and balaclavas—concealed themselves within the dusky grove that surrounded the temple like a passable palisade.

Among the shinobi, there were no more than a handful who wore black flak jackets, signifying those of higher rank; the failed crushing of Konoha had caused the sharpest decline of military strength for any Village, small or large, since the last Great Ninja War.

Upon learning of the Leaf's infiltration from that sycophantic toad, Kamikiri of the Fūma Clan, they had geared up and mobilized a squadron. Now the enemy encampment was surrounded by a pack of wolves hungry for retribution. Starving for it, truly, like feral animals gnawing and chewing away at a cage to escape their restraint and feast on the meat just out of reach.

Objectively speaking, it was a strategic position their enemy had chosen; their rear was covered by the robust cliffside the old abandoned temple was constructed against, preventing an enemy from blindsiding them from behind.

However, no matter how strategic the position was, it did not change the foolish misstep their superiors had taken sending children to do an adults job.

Were they underestimating the Sound Village? Or was this the cause of the Invasion?

Were inexperienced children all they had left to send to spy on them?

Now, with seven squads total—six comprised of four members, the seventh consisting of the three Fūma Clan members standing at the rearguard—the time to advance and eliminate the Leaf intruders had come.

Regardless of enemy age or skill, striking with superior numbers—ambushing them— was the most reasonable course of action. Wars weren't won with honor. They were won with strategy and military strength.

And this, after all, was a continuation of their war.

Quietly and cautiously, a kunoichi squad leader advanced from one tree to another. She kneeled beside it and rested her ungloved hand on the bark, gently gliding her fingers through the ridges and grooves. And immediately signaled her shinobi to halt.

Gesturing with her hand to the environment itself, her fellow shinobi squinted, scrutinizing the neighboring trees acting as a natural border between them and their targets. Uniquely, the grove also acted as their cover and concealment from enemy sight.

They couldn't see the enemy. Likewise, the enemy couldn't see them. Visibility was also deteriorating minute by minute, hour by hour, with the fall of the sun. Longer shadows were spreading out like an intangible inkwell spilling through the forest and over the temple.

Quite the predicament. Alas, they knew these lands better than the Leaf shinobi. And they, unlike the children, were experienced in war.

Her fellow shinobi nodded after a moment. They could see it, too.

Taut ninja wire, hidden amidst the shadows and foliage, stretched from tree to tree like impassable threads of spider silk patiently woven to ensnare its next meal.

More than that, she sensed a genjutsu cast upon the forest. The subtle illusion crawled on her senses like a mass of cockroaches skittering along flesh.

In all likelihood, the traps they were seeing weren't the real ones, but fakes constructed by this genjutsu.

It was a cunning trick. By hiding the real traps beneath a genjutsu, an approaching enemy unable to see through the illusion would attempt to evade the fake traps, and in doing so be led by their nose straight to their deaths. You wouldn't know until the real trap triggered. And by then it was too late.

Clever kids.

At her command, the squad of Sound shinobi released the genjutsu. Sure as the sun would rise, the dispelling of the genjutsu proved her right. The location of the traps changed. Some vanished entirely.

"Heh. They've prepared a welcoming party for us. How nice," her male counterpart mocked.

"It won't be enough." She gestured with her chin for him to move, not towards the temple, but laterally through the forest. "Move along the line and ensure the others know of the genjutsu. It's a well thought-out trap. For kids, anyway."

"Right."

He ran off down the line. She refocused her attention on formulating a navigable path through the traps, and though she looked away for but a moment, it was all it took to miss her comrade's demise

Glaring light flashed. An explosion roared. Everyone, from the Sound kunoichi and her squad, to their comrades down the line, jolted at the sudden disruption of silence. Their hearts jumped and grew tight in their chests.

The light of the detonation briefly dispersed the blanket of shadows draped over the silent grove. In the same moment, from the epicenter, swaths of intense heat raced through the trees, rustling the foliage, shaking the branches, igniting leaves close to the explosion. She felt her flak jacket rustle, felt the heat sting her exposed flesh—what little there was.

Their eardrums shuddered, the vibrations rattling up through their feet and along their skeletal structures.

The kunoichi's wide eyes snapped to her comrade. The man lay on his side, limp. Unmoving. Covered by severe burns, ribbons of smoke streamed off his body, the fabric of his attire was frayed, burnt, melted to his skin or missing entirely. She grimaced, stomach dropping, when she saw his right leg; a considerable chunk of the limb was missing.

His dead eyes stared blankly, unblinking, towards the road.

The stench of his burning corpse made her stomach squirm. It brought back memories… Recent memories…

"That fool," cursed one of her subordinates. "He didn't bother to look where he was running. Despite knowing there were traps, too! Now those damnable Leaf shinobi know we're here."

Something isn't right, the Sound kunoichi analyzed rationally. Emotionlessly. A mine? He would have seen it. We dispelled the genjutsu.

A second explosion, further down the line, thundered through the still grove. The leaves rustled, hissing.

A third and fourth explosion followed. She could feel the pulses in her chest, strong enough to steal a breath or two.

The fifth and sixth set the remnants of her squad on edge.

"Are they picking us off from the shadows? Are they out here with us?"

"Calm down," she commanded, calm in spite of the chaos. In spite of the death. "There has to be a reasonable explanation for this."

"To hell with reasonable, Takako. Those fools are falling into these brats traps. I won't fall to them so easily, and I'm not going to wait here for them to come to us! Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

The final two members of her squad dashed straight for the temple, evading the lines of ninja wire. The Sound kunoichi—Takako—did not follow. In her experience, patience and caution prolonged life, while incompetence and recklessness only led to death.

So, though she wished to talk sense into her comrades, she never had the time to voice her objection to their reckless charge. She could only watch them rush ahead.

She could only watch them die.

The first to run off collapsed forward abruptly as if he had lost control of his legs, slamming to the earth and sliding for a moment. He hadn't heard the whistle of the four kunai to pierce his spine, he hadn't seen the series of shuriken to pepper his torso.

He hadn't felt the kunai to penetrate his skull.

Frightened by the sudden death of his comrade, the second shinobi of her squad dashed off to the side; he suspected another attack from the shadows of the canopy where he believed the Leaf shinobi were assailing them from.

He stopped near a tree, turned his back to it and raised his blade in defense. His nervous eyes flitted around. His chest rose and fell quickly, heavily; he was panicking, uncertain and fearful of an enemy he couldn't see or hear.

He took a step back. Then another. Slowly, steadily, retreating closer to the trunk of the tree. Much like the Leaf shinobi, he wanted an assurance no enemy could surprise him from behind.

Stepping back again, his ankle, the kunoichi noticed with grim surprise, met resistance. Her comrade's head snapped around suddenly, eyes wide.

"Ninja wire?! But there wasn't—"

A mighty invisible force plowed into his abdomen, crushing him against the tree trunk he previously coveted for safety. He gasped once; his eyes appeared to bulge out of his skull. With his hands he tried to beat back the invisible object pinning him to the tree.

Finally he slumped forward against it.

Takako realized too little too late what had happened. What they had stumbled into like rank amateurs.

Eyes wide, she brought her hands together again in an attempt to release the genjutsu—the double genjutsu they'd all been ensnared within.

No sooner did she create the handseal, a razor sharp projectile ripped past her neck, through the fabric of her balaclava; she heard the impact of the bullet rupture bark somewhere behind her.

The pain didn't reach her brain until a moment later. Her hand snapped up to the wound, the illusion collapsing around her despite being unable to release the genjutsu in time.

Again she was left bewildered. Horrified, even. The traps they had seen before, the ones woven through the forest like spiders-web, those had been the real traps!

Swiftly shimmying around the tree, bracing her back against it as to put something solid between her and the temple, she ripped the balaclava off her head.

Takako, a dark-skinned woman once hailing from the Land of Lightning with nearly her whole head shaved save a long braided mohawk the color of pitch, removed her hand from her neck and looked at it. Her palm was painted in crimson. There were narrow streams dribbling down her wrist, slithering beneath her sleeves. She growled in frustration and pain.

Those crafty kids. No, they aren't kids, she dismissed that illusion immediately. That fool Kamikiri brought us here without knowing a damn thing about our enemy. These aren't children. They're guerrilla fighters. Soldiers.

They were expecting us.

After cutting her balaclava and tying the fabric around her neck as a makeshift necktie, the Sound kunoichi gently rose and scanned her surroundings.

There hasn't been any other explosions. I haven't heard anyone cry out, either. Have the others figured it out? Or did they all die?

She brought her hand to the fabric wrapped around her neck.

That wasn't a shuriken or a kunai to graze me. It was a Water or Wind bullet. Based on my position at that time, the angle of the wound and where it impacted, it came from the temple.

I was lucky. Had their shot been even a little more accurate, I would be choking on my blood right now.

Peering around the cover and concealment provided by the tree, she eyed the dead bodies of her fallen comrades.

The ground around the first was displaced, darkened by the combustion of the explosive. He had died instantly, fortunately for him. Bleeding out was a far slower, far more excruciating way to die.

The second, she examined, had tripped two separate traps. Both were located near the forest floor. And both had been fatal. In the end, the shuriken only hastened his end, or, perhaps, impacted against a corpse. It was impossible to say.

The final member of her squad had suffered the worst. First through the bewilderment of triggering a trap he couldn't see. Second when his ribcage and insides were crushed by a tree branch with a diameter matching a dinner plate.

He hadn't died instantly. In fact, she could still hear him gasping, choking, coughing; at times it sounded as if someone was drowning him.

They had all been led to believe, falsely, they were ambushing rookie Leaf intruders. "Insignificant brats," were the exact words of Kamikiri. That arrogant fool. That sycophantic toad.

Under a false pretense some of her comrades had walked themselves into the remorseless cold and bony hands of death. All because of Kamikiri's incompetence.

There was nothing to be done for them, Takako knew. It was too late. She, however, had survived. Caution prevailed and prolonged her life once again.

Presently, with their initial ambush countered, the element of surprise was no longer theirs to bear against the Leaf intruders. However they still possessed a greater number of shinobi to combat the small squad—hopefully.

Numbers will not help us if we cannot see or attack the enemy, the Sound kunoichi thought. They've turned this natural border into a death trap. Meanwhile, they have at least one shinobi among them capable of long-distance attacks. They also have a higher vantage point. It is likely they have memorized the battlefield and location of their traps.

She wiped her bloody hand on her pants.

This ambush has also dealt a blow to the morale of the squads. Confused us. It has led to complete blunders like the avoidable deaths of my squad.

Whoever was in charge of the enemy squad wasn't an amateur. Takako cursed Kamikiri and his arrogance.

We should have known by seeing the wounds on Kamikiri's face that he didn't have the slightest idea who he was dealing with. We excused it for him lowering his guard, for being an arrogant fool when he told us they were only kids. "They're just insignificant brats," he told us. "Teenagers who haven't even seen their sixteenth birthday."

And we, like the fools we are, believed him. We abandoned all caution because they were just children. I can't help but wonder…

The Sound kunoichi looked at the dry blood staining her palm. Like the smell of her comrade's burning corpse, the sight of her hand painted in crimson brought back memories. Unpleasant and recent memories.

During the Invasion, she recalled, I saw two children on the frontlines aiding the evacuations.

She could still see them in her mind's eye. She could see the girl with the blue ponytail glaring over her shoulder directly at Takako, face darkened by rage. And that damn eye. That searing crimson eye which seemed to see into her soul and deem it worthless.

The Sharingan eye responsible for jolting her awake in cold sweats ever since.

There was also the other kunoichi, a fierce featured Inuzuka who's eyes like vibrant sapphires barely bothered to glance her way, cold and detached.

Her final words and that heart-stopping cold gaze had haunted her dreams just as much as the blue-haired kunoichi.

There, in the forest, the day came flooding back like it had nearly every night since.

She could hear the towering serpents hissing, feel the earth shaking, trembling beneath her as the rumble and uproar of collapsing buildings shuddered through the Leaf, awakening massive clouds of dirt and dust to flush the streets in tumultuous waves.

She heard the ominous Crows cawing, saw their haunting shadows flutter over the road, diving like hungry raptors through the veil of dust and dirt. Cries of death followed them wherever they went.

Takako witnessed them tear through her comrades mercilessly. And as she lay in the dirt, a slab of concrete pinning her down, she saw them swooping and soaring through the sky in darkly beautiful and elaborate flocks.

Corpses of shinobi, allied and enemy alike, littered the street. The scent of death was buried beneath ash, fire and ribbons of smoke…

---

Takako groaned feebly as she lay there, weak hands painted with flecks of blood pressing against the concrete, desperate to push the crushing weight off her body. Her pain receptors, from her waist to her feet, thrashed about with unmanageable agony. She would've thrashed, too, if she had the strength left.

Later, she learned, both of her femurs had cracked, as had her pelvis.

But in the moment she could feel them. Indeed, she could feel every ache. She could feel every sudden sting of agony from her broken legs and pelvis, every sharp pulse of pain that made her head spin and her stomach seek to eject all its contents onto the street, which meant she wasn't paralyzed.

Her present condition was the best case scenario, Takako knew without a doubt. For without the stroke of fortunate misfortune she experienced when the nearby building suddenly collapsed, knocking her unconscious and pinning her beneath this slab of concrete, she would be dead.

When she awoke Takako witnessed her cruel fortune. Dead Sound shinobi littered the street; the pools of blood building beneath them hadn't even dried yet. Some had holes drilled through their fleshy centers. Some were burned alive. Others were decapitated by Wind Jutsus.

Their violent deaths had likely been brought on by a platoon of Crows that had swept through moments after she lost consciousness.

Takako hadn't heard the approach of clapping sandals on the street over the pulsing migraine strangling her senses. Had she, she may have taken the precaution to play dead on the chance it was an enemy. Instead she continued to struggle to free herself, groaning in agony, breathing heavily.

It was the sound of new voices that caused the Sound kunoichi to lower her head to the ground and turn it to see two young Leaf kunoichi. They couldn't be older than fifteen; in fact, the small one barely looked thirteen.

Together they ushered a group of civilians out of a nearby store, out of hiding and onto the dirty, bloody and smoke filled streets. They directed them to follow a path their allies had carved towards a sector under Leaf control.

Meanwhile, the dark-haired kunoichi braced the weight of a wounded man—a Leaf shinobi and sole survivor of the previous battle. He didn't look well, but his wounds wouldn't be fatal. Not when a green glowing palm was pressed against his wound.

Possessed by a desperate need to survive, the Sound kunoichi clawed at the coarse dirt. Her fingernails grated against the earth. Her vocal cords trembled.

"Help…me…" she pleaded to the children.

The blue-haired one stiffened, but not in surprise. No, the Sound kunoichi suspected they had known she was there the whole time. They just hadn't bothered to acknowledge her.

"Help…" she pleaded again.

The blue-haired kunoichi turned to look over her right shoulder. The searing crimson glare of the Sharingan burned away any hope of aid. Killing intent coiled around Takako, rage and disgust darkened the young kunoichi's face, as if silently demanding where she found the gall to plea for help.

Takako had never felt fear of a child or gripping mortality until that moment.

"Leave her, Amari," the other kunoichi said. The Inuzuka glanced coldly at her. To her detached eyes, the Sound kunoichi was already a cadaver. "Leave her to suffer. We need to get these people to a safe sector before the lines of battle change again."

"Right." The Sharingan wielder turned away and moved to lead the group.

They were leaving her. They were leaving her to die.

The Sound kunoichi clawed weakly at the dirt.

"Help…please…"

The Inuzuka glanced at her again, cold and detached.

"Go to hell."

---

By a stroke of fortune she survived that day. The lines on the battlefield changed, and a recovery team comprised of Sand shinobi pulled her broken and feeble body from the rubble, off the battlefield.

Had they known Orochimaru was posing as their Kazekage, and that he was responsible for his assassination, they would've killed her then and there. Or left her to suffer like the Leaf shinobi had.

Instead, she survived. She was ferried away by her comrades long before the Sand learned the truth.

Again by the thread of luck she lived to fight another day.

It was reported that a squad of Genin comprised of kids who participated in the Chūnin Exams stopped the Sand's jinchūriki, she recalled, chest compressing on a long exhale. There was also the failed recovery of the Uchiha's by the Sound Four, who were slain by Genin led by two Chūnin. I wonder… Are we dealing with those same shinobi?

The possibility incensed her.

Dammit, Kamikiri, the Sound kunoichi growled. You fool! You blundered this entire ambush by misleading us with poorly gathered information. Had you told us we were facing the shinobi responsible for killing the Sound Four, we wouldn't have walked right into an enemy ambush!

The Sound kunoichi placed a hand against her forehead.

Think. What's the reasonable move here? Without the double genjutsu we can see the traps they've laid for us. If we trigger them at a safe distance, we could create a path through this line of trees and finally get a sight on the enemy.

From there we'll still be at a disadvantage. There are two flights of stairs we'll have to climb, and a chance they've laid traps or another Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Jutsu somewhere along the stairs. Even the slightest moment under the influence of that genjutsu will be enough for them to deal a mortal blow in such close-quarters.

Another reckless advance under the pretense we're in control of the situation will only lead to more death. That means the most reasonable solution is to…

---

Their preparations were paying off.

From inside the temple doors, taking cover behind the walls to avoid potential long-range retaliation, Mimi utilized the enhanced senses she and Aoko wielded to judge the situation.

Naruto was kneeling behind her. He drummed his fingers on his knee, a sign of eagerness rather than nervousness. The enemy was out there, just beyond the stairs. Knowing that, he found it hard to sit and wait when he could just as easily charge in and meet them head-on.

In that way he was like Lee.

Outside, two of his Shadow Clones took up defensive positions halfway down the wooden stairs, kunais in hand, waiting for an enemy shinobi to burst through the grove.

At the top of the stairs, firing small precision Water Style bullets downrange at the enemies hidden amongst the greenery, was a Shadow Clone of Mimi.

The attack was less to wound or kill targets and more to aggravate and stress the enemy shinobi into rushing headlong through their traps. She wanted them to feel caged, surrounded. She wanted to trigger their fight-or-flight systems and force them into making adrenaline and duress caused mistakes.

There, under a repetitive assault, influenced by adrenaline and duress, was when mistakes were made by even the most level-headed shinobi. If she could get them to dance to her tune, they could achieve victory without ever physically seeing the enemy.

Not the funnest kind of fight. But it was the smart play. The kind a squad leader was expected to make.

On the opposite side of the door was Sakura, in a similarly crouched position, peering through the slightly ajar door to monitor the situation. She was calm. Watching and listening for the enemy.

Behind her was Sasame, fist clutched over her heart and a bead of nervous sweat sliding down her cheek. Mimi didn't envy her inexperience with real combat situations.

"The explosions have stopped," Sasame said.

"Yeah. Can you tell what's going on down there, Mimi?" Naruto asked.

"The mines we set up killed six and severely injured three. Four others were killed by our traps while a handful were wounded by them; their particular wounds aren't severe enough to eliminate or incapacitate, according to Aoko. Still, that's half their forces dealt with so far."

"Fourteen more to go," Sakura analyzed.

"Right," the Inuzuka nodded.

Sakura's double-genjutsu had worked like a dream. It lured the enemy in, fed them a false sense of security, then yanked the carpet out from beneath their feet when they weren't looking. It couldn't have gone any better, Mimi believed. Not without eliminating all of the enemy shinobi in one move, anyway.

Still, although they remained outnumbered fourteen to four—she didn't necessarily count Sasame as a combatant—and though she suspected the enemy wouldn't trip any further traps, the damage dealt to the enemy was severe.

There was no walking it off, that was for damn sure. The battle wasn't over, though. She'd seen enough of the Sound shinobi in the Invasion to know they weren't about to tuck tail and run despite the casualties they sustained.

Allied casualties hadn't seemed to bother them, then. It hadn't bothered the Sound Four, either.

To them, everyone was expendable, she thought. Anyone who died was just dead weight. No loyalty or camaraderie among scoundrels and monsters.

"Assuming the traps picked off the least inexperienced, the remaining shinobi could very well be Chūnin or Jōnin leveled shinobi," she said after a moment. "They could also be punks we can squash without any real effort. Either way, right now we hold the advantage on this battlefield. We'd be idiots to forfeit it and to expose ourselves to battle unnecessarily."

Although she preferred a straight up fight, there was more to consider than the grudge she held against the Sound shinobi for all the pain they had caused her Village and the prisoners of their master.

First off, the disadvantage of numbers. Regardless of enemy skill level, fighting a battle fourteen to four was an unnecessary risk. It exposed them to bodily harm and potential severe injuries when, at the moment, there was no need.

Furthermore, on that same point, their tripwire traps could pick off or injure a few more. It was better to be patient and sustain their advantage when there was still potential damage to be dealt.

Second, the shinobi down in the grove weren't their real targets. No, that illustrious title went to Kasai and Orochimaru. To engage their ambushers unnecessarily in close-quarters combat risked potential injuries, which, in turn, would jeopardize their whole mission.

Finally, their enemies were on the clock even if they didn't realize it yet. Sooner or later, Master Jiraiya would finish up his information gathering or perverted antics or whatever he was up to, eventually returning here—this battlefield.

His money would only last so long.

So, in Mimi's mind, holding their position was the wisest course of action. The longer they went without engaging in combat, thus abstaining from endangering themselves and the mission, the higher their chances were of Master Jiraiya arriving to aid them. From there they could eliminate the enemy forces in one fell swoop.

It's just like the battle against the so-called leaders of the Sound Four, thought Mimi. I can't risk our lives because I want to rip these guys to shreds. We have to stay focused on the mission as a whole. Focus on minimizing risk to ourselves while maximizing damage to our enemies. That's the smart way to do this.

Her thoughts trailed to the bracelet in her pocket and its amber gems. She thought of Amber's frail and dead arm reaching out of the jail cell, and she bottled up all the emotions it stirred.

I can't get lost in my personal feelings. Aoko, Sakura, Naruto and even Sasame are relying on me to lead them through this. They're depending on me to take care of them.

The silence persisted for another few minutes. Then, without preamble, the ground trembled and the silence was shattered as orange light flashed down below. The initial explosion was followed by short consecutive bursts progressing towards the threshold between the tree-line and the short stretch of grass separating it from the stone stairs.

"Aoko?"

"I do not sense any new injuries. I believe they are disarming them at distance."

Mimi hummed. "Guess it was only a matter of time before they figured out the double-genjutsu." The kunoichi glanced to her teammates. "Sakura, Naruto, they're carving safe path through the grove towards our position. Be ready. Things are about to heat up."

Sakura nodded silently.

"Oh, I'm more than ready to pummel these guys," Naruto said.

"I like your attitude, Goofball. But don't lose sight of the mission. These guys aren't our real targets. Today they're just obstacles between us and the people we're really here for. Don't get me wrong, given the chance, I'll savor ripping them apart for what they've helped facilitate.

"But we're still outnumbered. That alone should keep us cautious. Overconfidence will end up biting us in the ass. So fight smart and don't waste time taunting or yelling at them. So, you know, fight every natural instinct you've got," she added with a cheeky grin.

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny," he pouted. "And you're one to talk. Your whole team was pummeled by Amari because of overconfidence."

"Which is why I'm telling you not to let it effect your judgement. Learn from our mistake. Because this time it's the real deal," she said seriously. "This isn't a spar or practice. And we don't know how strong these guys are. If I say retreat, we follow our escape plan. No arguments. Got it?"

"I got it."

"Good." She looked towards the door, sniffed the air and listened.

Hard to tell them apart with all the smoke in the air, but they're moving as a single unit now. Cautiously. I wonder if they'll try to rush us once they make it through the grove. I'd think they'd be hesitant to rush us after experiencing our traps and mines.

Then again, what choice do they have? Once they reach this side of the battlefield they'll—

Aoko's entire body rumbling with a feral growl snapped the Inuzuka's attention up to her companion, who rested on her head.

"What's wrong, Aoko?"

"It's the children from Manzo's bar. Emi and Scotch. They're here!"

Mimi's stomach dropped. "What?" she gasped.

"Scotch and Emi are both here, among the Sound shinobi. They must've taken them as hostages after we left," her companion growled. "That's why they're advancing fearlessly now. They must plan to force our surrender for the lives of the children."

The news felt like catching a punch from Lee right in the jaw.

"What's the matter, Mimi?" Naruto asked.

Dammit, the Inuzuka cursed, squeezing her eyes shut. Guilt clawed at her heart. I didn't even consider that. I was so focused on getting the hell out of there… They saw us enter and leave Manzo's bar. They knew we spoke to Manzo and Daisuke. And Daisuke, he recognized Kamikiri.

She cursed violently and slammed the side of her hand into the wall.

You damn idiot! You left them all to defend themselves against shinobi. They must've shaken them down for information. And after the beating my Shadow Clone gave Kamikiri, he must've decided taking hostages was his ace in the hole against us.

What about the other children, though, she worried. What about Daisuke and Manzo? Did he hurt them? Kill them?

She couldn't know. Wouldn't know until they got out of this sticky situation and sent the Sound shinobi either crawling home or screaming down to hell.

"Mimi?" Sakura looked at her with a concerned expression.

"Those bastards," she growled. "They took Emi and Scotch as hostages after my Shadow Clone dispelled."

The horror her teammates felt was clear on their faces. It left them speechless. For a moment, anyway.

"There has to be something we can do," Naruto declared first.

"We're four against fourteen against enemies who are holding children hostage," Mimi growled, throughly pissed off at herself. "If you have a brilliant plan that stops them from killing them before we can even move, by all means tell me."

Dammit, she swore again. This is just like that time Itachi took Amari hostage.

"Spare me your bravado," she recalled his icy voice.

She could still see Itachi holding his kunai to Amari's throat. Still see his emotionless and cold expression glaring through her, hollow of remorse.

"I'm through playing games and entertaining foolish impulses. Try to attack us and I will kill her. Or do you think you'll be faster than my blade?"

"What about a hostage exchange?" Sasame spoke up, breaking her from the dark memory. "You could say you're holding me hostage then trade me for these children, right? They won't hurt me."

"I appreciate the offer, Sasame. But it won't work," Mimi replied, shaking her head. "You're assuming your life to them is worth more than killing us. I'm not saying this to put you down or hurt your feelings, please believe that. But to them you're just another sacrifice for the sake of the Fūma Clan and Orochimaru.

"They're willing to kidnap innocent kids. To imprison them and let Orochimaru experiment on them. Your life, our lives, Scotch and Emi's lives, they mean nothing to these monsters."

"You don't think they would actually…"

Mimi's silent gaze was answer enough for the Fūma kunoichi. Her eyes fell to the floor. She squeezed her fist tighter.

"…There has to be something we can do, though. Right?" Sasame asked. "We can't just let them…"

"No. We can't," she agreed. "That's why there's only one real option to rescue Emi and Scotch. I'll need all of your help to pull it off, though. Yours, too, Sasame. Can I count on you to help us?" She eyed the girl seriously. "If you do this, you'll be branded as a traitor by Kamikiri and the others. You'll be an enemy to the Sound Village if you go through with my plan. There's no going back if you help. But I need an answer. Right now."

Sasame bit her lip. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"…If this is what Kamikiri, Jigumo and Kagerō are willing to do in the name of our Clan, if they're willing to hurt or kill children, then they are no longer members of the Fūma Clan to me. Most of all, I feel responsible for them taking these children hostage. I was the one who showed them who you were. I led them straight to you. Arashi wouldn't stand by and do nothing; he'd fight to save those children. And so will I!"

"All right," Mimi nodded. "Then here's what we're gonna do…"

Her plan stunned and bewildered her team. Even Aoko argued against the risks. In the end, though, they all understood it was the only option to save the children.

We're gonna save you, Emi and Scotch, Mimi vowed then and there. She clutched her hands into tight fists. And after we do, we're gonna make these bastards regret ever taking you hostage.

---

The fourteen Sound shinobi concealed themselves at the tree-line, hidden in the cold and swaying shadows of the branches creaking and bending with the wind. They concealed themselves behind tree trunks, cautiously examining the battlefield and their enemies positions on it.

The two blond's in orange standing at the doors of the temple watched them in return, teeth grit and knuckles white around their kunai.

Was it fear? Or frustration?

It didn't matter. Although they were unaware of it at present, Takako had irrevocably regained control of the situation and reversed the tide of battle.

With a silent gesture to Kamikiri, she commanded him to play his part—a part she decided he owed the shinobi who perished because of his arrogance.

Grunting in annoyance—he hadn't liked Takako wresting command from him, or the dressing down she'd given him in front of their comrades—Kamikiri pushed the gagged and bound child with a plait forward and shoved the sickly one with his foot, who could only crawl weakly while coughing and sweating profusely in exertion and fear.

Given no choice, they advanced into the sunlight, restrained by the rope leashes tied to their collared necks.

The blond shinobis growled and glared at the sight of it. But they did nothing.

"Looks like the tables have turned, Leaf shinobi," Kamikiri taunted maliciously. "I hope there aren't any mines around. Think of what it'll do to their little bodies."

"You rat," the blond snarled. "And you think you can rebuild a Clan like this? Any Clan built this way—built your way—will be worthless!"

Kamikiri stopped and yanked roughly on the leashes. The girl with the plait was thrown off her feet with a surprised but choked cry, to then have the wind knocked from her small lungs upon crashing to the earth. The sickly girl was forced erect, choking as the rope collar tightened around her throat. Her weak and frail body collapsed over with minimal effort, like a wounded animal in its death throes.

Agitated, Kamikiri stepped onto the sickly one's neck and placed his pincer blades over the other's.

"Careful what you say, kid," he warned. "I'm sure you're fine risking your life—you're a shinobi, after all. It's what we do."

"Don't even try to compare us," the blond seethed. "Don't act like you and me or any of your comrades are the same as us. Unlike you, we don't have to hide behind kids like cowards!"

"Spare me the righteous speech. Look around you. We outnumber you and we have hostages. Unless…"

He added additional pressure to the sickly girl's neck and closed his blades slightly, nearly drawing blood from the other.

"You don't mind become a child killer, too. Their blood will be on your hands just as much mine."

"Let them go!" The blond swiped his hand through the air. "This is between us! They don't have any part in this!"

"Funny, you're the second one to tell me that today. Want them to go free? Then surrender yourselves to us."

The doors to the temple opened. From it emerged a kunoichi.

So, the Sound kunoichi narrowing her eyes, it is you after all.

The sapphire eyed Inuzuka exited, whispered something to the two Shadow Clone's and gestured them to enter the temple with a nod of her head. They appeared to want to argue, but obeyed all the same.

She's been promoted since I last saw her, Takako analyzed the flak jacket. She's the squad leader here. And, unlike the blond and Kamikiri, she is responding to the situation in the most reasonable way. She can see we're in control. And there is only one way the children escape with their lives.

"So, this is a exchange, right? That means we can negotiate a deal, and I've got one in mind." The Inuzuka raised her hands in surrender and took a step down the stairs. "Hand over the kids and let them and my team go free. They'll leave this Land, and in exchange you get to take my life."

"This isn't a negotiation."

"That's where you're wrong, little man," she replied coldly. "Let's take good look at the situation we're all in. Right now, you're standing on a minefield with two hostages. Fortunately for you, you managed to avoid blowing all three of yourselves up."

Kamikiri stiffened. He cast his nervous eyes about the field of grass. Then narrowed them at the Inuzuka.

"You're bluffing."

"What reason do I have to bluff? I've already said I'd give you my life in exchange for the kids and my team. What reason do I have to bluff if my death is meant to save the lives of those children? When I'm walking down towards you with my hands raised in surrender?"

Dammit, the Sound kunoichi cursed, digging her nails into her palms. I think she's serious. And unlike in the forest, I can't see any sign of where they may have placed their traps.

"Furthermore, if you were to kill either Emi or Scotch now, I'd have no reason to believe you would uphold your word and spare them when I'm dead. At that point, our deal would be off."

"So you'd leave the other child to die."

"In that situation, they're already dead." The Inuzuka kunoichi did not blink. Her face was emotionless. "Unfortunate as it is, that's the way of war. Sacrifices have to be made. And if you take even one of their lives, my duty to protect my comrades will be all that matter's then. The battle would resume.

"True, you outnumber us. But at this range you would die before you could retreat—I can guarantee that." Kamikiri grunted. The Inuzuka flicked her eyes around, eyeing their comrade's positions. "Afterwards, I could pick off at least two more of you before needing to retreat myself. There's also the minefield you're standing in to consider. From where I'm standing, you don't have as much leverage as you believe.

"However," the Inuzuka reached the stone platform but proceeded no further, "I'm willing to sacrifice my life for those children. They're lives may mean nothing to you, but I'm a soft-hearted fool who has no desire to live long enough to resemble scum like you. I won't walk through this world with the blood of children on my hands if I can help it."

"No deal. All of you Leaf spies are going to die."

The Inuzuka barked a laugh, mocking and amused.

"Spies? Ha! You give this motley crew too much credit, Sound shinobi. The other two up there are just average Genin Lady Hokage assigned to me for this mission. She had to really scrape the bottom of the barrel for this because of all the damage you Sound shinobi did. Those two haven't even finished their first year as shinobi."

"Heh, is that so?"

"Damn right. Killing them won't achieve anything. Unlike me, they didn't fight on the front-lines of your failed Invasion. They're still green as grass rookies. To be honest, I'm not sure how they even passed their graduation Exam."

Her voice shifted from mockery to one absent of emotion when she spoke again.

"I'm the one with the information here. I'm the squad leader and the medic. I'm one of two kunoichi who will lead this new generation. Take me out and you'll weaken the Leaf."

It's a good deal, Takako considered. We can interrogate her for information on the Leaf and, when we finish, we can eliminate a potential future threat. Losing a medical shinobi will severely weaken the Leaf's standing.

"You fought on the front-lines? Who you trying to kid?"

The Sound kunoichi growled and emerged from the shadows. She refused to let this opportunity slip by them because of Kamikiri's ignorance.

"Kamikiri, she was there."

The Inuzuka glanced her way, sniffed the air. A flicker of realization sparked in her eyes.

"How would you know?" Kamikiri demanded.

"Unlike you, I was asked to fight in the Invasion," she replied coldly. He bristled at the thinly veiled insult to his strength. She locked eyes with the Inuzuka. "She left me to die. Her and one of the Uchiha's the Sound Four failed to capture."

The Inuzuka didn't bother to look at her after that. She treated Takako once more as if she was already a cadaver.

"Huh. You survived," said the Leaf kunoichi, disinterest prevalent in her tone. "Guess I should be glad. Maybe you can get this idiot to realize how good of a deal he's getting."

"Is that Uchiha girl here with you?"

The Inuzuka snorted. It was almost a full-blown mocking laugh.

"No," she answered, still staring directly at Kamikiri. "She's still recovering after the recent incident. Not that you'd want her here, trust me," she added with a hint of a cruel smirk. "If she saw all this, and you, there isn't a god you could pray to that would save your worthless lives."

Again Takako took a moment to consider relevant information she had acquired.

From what little I know of what happened, the Sound kunoichi thought, that sounds about right. The one surviving Sound shinobi to return was in a state of critical injury. He hasn't fully recovered, either.

Considering the Inuzuka had played a role in the deaths of five of Orochimaru's top lieutenants, they were fortunate she was a self-proclaimed soft-hearted fool, unwilling to risk the lives of innocent children, for there wasn't a single shinobi among them presently who matched any one of the five.

"Let the children go, Kamikiri," Takako ordered after a moment. "We'll take this Leaf kunoichi with us."

"What? Just like that?" Kamikiri was beyond incredulous.

"Yes. Just like that." Takako leveled the Fūma Clan member with a cold glare. "Take your fragile ego out of this. It is a good deal. By cutting the head off the snake, the other two Leaf shinobi will be aimless and return home. They're useless to us."

She glanced warily at the Inuzuka. Even now, with her hands raised in surrender, standing at the top of the stone stairs far out of physical reach, Takako was unsettled to be in her presence.

They were fortunate—very fortunate—the other kunoichi wasn't here as well.

"Additionally, if we were to attack now, there's a chance more of us will die for an ultimately pointless reason. Further battle is pointless if it can be altogether avoided."

She looked at Kamikiri again. "The most reasonable solution is to take this Leaf kunoichi, our injured and dead comrades and return to the Sound Village."

"…Fine." Kamikiri removed his foot and his pincer blade from the two children after a tense moment. "We'll do it your way. This time."

The Inuzuka proceeded slowly down the stone stairs.

"Unbind Scotch so she can carry Emi," she demanded.

Kamikiri sniffed derisively.

"Do it, Kamikiri," ordered Takako.

With a growl, he untied the bound wrists of the girl with a plait. But not her gag or the rope tied around her neck. The Inuzuka kunoichi stopped at the bottom step.

"All right, Scotch. Pick up Emi. Don't look at me like that. Just trust me. Okay, good. Now I want you to walk two steps forward, and then step laterally three steps. Wait, not that far!"

Kamikiri tensed, as did the Sound kunoichi and the children.

"Phew. That was close. Now two more steps forward, and… You have a clear path up the stairs."

"Not so fast." Kamikiri stepped on the very end of the rope. "You think we're stupid? Get over here first and then they can go."

Takako noticed the Inuzuka sniff the air. A slight smirk tugged onto her lips.

"As you wish." She stepped down into the grass, made a lateral step and walked forward, at times taking exaggerated strides to avoid mines. She stopped halfway. "Now let them go the rest of the way."

Kamikiri didn't remove his foot. "They go free as soon as you're in our custody."

"I'd rethink that if I were you."

"I don't think I will. Now move!"

"Fine." She took another step. "By the way, your little friend mentioned something intriguing." Another step. "She said the most reasonable conclusion is to take me hostage in exchange. She was wrong." The Inuzuka shook her head dismissively. "The most reasonable conclusion would've been to leave the kids out of this."

She stopped. Out of reach.

"Also, I said if Amari were here, if she saw all this, that there wouldn't be a god you could pray to that would save your worthless lives. The thing is, I misspoke. What I meant to say was…"

She shut her eyes.

"There isn't a divine powerful enough to stop me from ending your worthless lives."

Her right hand closed into a fist.

The distinct bang of a firework launching was all the warning they had.

The Sound kunoichi glimpsed the red missile that soared through the air and landed among her comrades; she glimpsed the smoke trailing behind it, leading all the way up to one of the temple windows.

As all their eyes were drawn to the glowing red orb amidst them, it exploded in a blaze of red light.

Every Sound shinobi was rendered blind, their ears were ringing and their heads pounding. Those closest to the epicenter of the explosion were collapsed to the ground with intense burns caused by the firework flare.

Takako was fortunate, out of the range of the epicenter. However much longer she remained fortunate was questionable.

Cunning kids. No. They aren't just children, she realized once more.

They're shinobi.

---

"All right. Here's what we're gonna do: When they use Scotch and Emi as bargaining chips to force our surrender, I'll go down alone and convince them I'm giving myself up. Naruto, call your Shadow Clones up to the top of the staircase; I don't know if they have a Sensory Type, so I'll dispel mine now.

"I'm the bait and the distraction. I'll build myself up as a squad leader and medic-nin to make them believe that taking me out will weaken the Leaf while making them believe you two are just green as grass Genin. I'll make them believe I'm sacrificing myself to keep you two and the girls safe. If they're smart, they'll take the trade. That will get me close enough to Emi and Scotch to defend them.

"To keep the enemy from rushing the temple I'll convince them we've created a second minefield in front of the temple steps. It shouldn't be too hard since they've already lost comrades in the grove. The rest of this plan will hinge on you three.

"First, Sasame, my Shadow Clone overheard Kamikiri giving you a firework flare. I want you waiting at that window for my signal. I'll have my hands raised like this the whole time, all right? When I close my right hand you're gonna fire it right in the middle of these bastards.

"Sakura and Aoko, once the firework goes off, that's your signal to move."

Sakura, with Aoko on her head, was ready when the firework exploded.

One of Naruto's Shadow Clones ripped the door open for her, allowing her to seamlessly Body Flicker through the open portal, down the wooden stairs, across the stone platform, and then down the stone stairs. She reappeared beside Scotch and Emi.

The girl with the plait was kneeling beside her sicker counterpart, who had curled up on her side, struggling to breathe, skin flushed and sweaty. Mimi was already in front of the pair, a scroll unrolled. She stamped her foot on the edge of the fūinjutsu Seal.

Across the battlefield a few of the enemy shinobi had already recovered from the firework. They equipped kunais attached with paper bombs and threw them at the Leaf shinobi without hesitation or care for the potential child casualties.

Water sprang forth from Mimi's scroll like a gushing fountain at first. As the kunais neared, the paper attached at their ends crinkling in the wind, the gushing fountain erupted into a wide and solid wall of water.

"Water Style: Water Wall!"

Aoko barked. Mimi crouched down, hands forming the Tiger handseal. Then the ninken leapt from Sakura's head to her companion's back.

"Man Beast Clone!"

For a moment Aoko disappeared in a plume of smoke. The transformed ninken appeared a breath later, back-flipping off of Mimi's back onto all-four human limbs, a fierce and feral expression on her face.

Sakura's attention was already on the children. Kunai in hand, she severed the rope attached to their rope collars carefully then proceeded with the next part of her squad leader's plan, starting by untying the gag on Scotch.

"I don't trust them to actually hand over the kids without question. These scumbags have already proven they're willing to take them hostage to achieve their ends. They won't be above placing bombs on them to take us out. Sakura, I need you to search them for paper bombs. Quickly and carefully, which I know isn't easy. We have no idea what the trigger will be or how long they have until they go off."

"Scotch," she addressed the girl, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her to look directly in her eyes, "did they place anything strange on you two? Can you feel anything on your body that shouldn't be there?"

She nodded. "There's something itchy on my back, and they put a paper on Emi's belly."

"All right." Despite the horror of it all Sakura was impressed by how calm she felt. And how steady her voice sounded. "Turn around and please hold still. I need to remove them."

Explosions ruptured the air beyond the Water Wall. A misting of water sprayed over the kunoichi's shoulders and neck, cold by comparison to the swell of heat that carved around the wall itself. Scotch flinched at the noise.

They placed a paper bomb on her back, Sakura analyzed, feeling the paper beneath her fingers beneath Scotch's shirt. What kind of monster could do something like this?

She peeled the paper off and crumbled it in her hand, extinguishing the first embers to ignite before they could truly burst into flames. One down, one to go.

Next she turned Emi onto her back. It wasn't incredibly difficult, the girl was practically limp. Almost in a vegetative state, which caused an uncomfortable knot to form in her gut.

Behind Sakura, a Sound shinobi raced around the Water Wall and was met by the sharpened claws of Aoko tearing through his balaclava, down his face and neck with the first strike, a kunai slash across his abdomen with her second, and a pounce that knocked him onto his back to finish the initial combo.

Whether it was pent up rage or animal instinct, Aoko attacked his jugular with her human mouth and sharpened teeth, tearing out a chunk of flesh that guaranteed a kill. Streams of crimson stained her white teeth and dripped from her chin as she growled viciously.

At the same moment Sakura peeled the second paper bomb off, another Sound shinobi dashed around the opposite side of the Water Wall, directly for her and the children, and as he did the paper bomb in her hand ignited.

You monsters planned to blow Scotch and Emi apart just to hurt us.

The kunoichi did not crumple the paper bomb. She hurdled over the children, charging directly for the Sound shinobi bearing a sickle blade, teeth grit and emerald eyes enraged.

"Far as I'm concerned, they're guilty of Amber's death and all the other children he's killed along the way just by associating with Orochimaru. No different than the Sound shinobi who attacked the Leaf. The innocent lives they took… They're all gonna pay, I can promise that. They all owe a debt of blood, and I'll collect every last drop. With interest."

No, they weren't any different than the Sound shinobi who attacked the Leaf. They weren't any different than the Sound Four, either. And just like Tayuya, she couldn't forgive them for what pain they had caused, or the evil they intended to commit.

"Do you think it's okay to try to blow up innocent children?" she growled.

The flames of the paper bomb were burning her fingers. But she reached the Sound shinobi, who lunged in and slashed his sickle blade across his body. Sakura evaded low suddenly, entering in beneath his guard to surprise of her enemy.

With one hand she attached the burning paper bomb to his chest; the horrified flash in his eyes was all she could see of his reaction due to his balaclava, but she heard him suck in a breath. With her clenched fist she caught him with a punch right in his gut.

"Let's see how you like it!" roared the kunoichi.

The power behind her strike was nothing like what she used to blow Tayuya's puppet creature away; he didn't torpedo to the other side of the battlefield out of visual sight.

However, it had enough strength to knock him off his feet and send him flying back a few meters, where he then crashed flat on his back, sickle blade falling from his hand. He scrambled to grab the paper bomb and extinguish it.

And then the roar of an explosion, the flash of light and dark clouds of smoke obscured his remains. Catching a glimpse of shuriken whirling towards her in her peripheral vision, Sakura leapt back, evading the weapons by a slim margin.

As she landed behind the safety of the Water Wall she spun around and rushed to Scotch and Emi, scooping up the sick child first and then lifting Scotch with her other arm.

"Mimi, I have them! Let's go!" she called over her shoulder.

"All right!"

The Inuzuka disengaged the fūinjutsu seal, absorbing the entirety of her Water Wall within a two breaths, after which she snatched the scroll off the ground and spun on her heel.

Without the defensive wall separating them from their enemies, who realized there were no mines separating them, the Sound shinobi prepared to charge the team of young shinobi and overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

They did not anticipate the next stage of the Leaf shinobi's plan.

Shuriken and kunai whirled and whistled through the air, descending down from the temple like dozens of angry murderous hornets on a warpath for the Sound shinobi. The blades embedded into flesh, into the dirt to cut off advances, tore through fabric and opened up cuts. But, ultimately, they were not fatal or incapacitating.

Sakura, Mimi and Aoko raced up the stone stairs, beneath the temple arch and up the wooden stairs surrounded on all sides by twenty orange clad shinobi throwing ninja tools.

"Keep going," one of the Naruto's called to them. "We've got you covered now!"

"Yeah!" cheered the collective group.

"How do you like our Ninja Tool Rain, bastards!" another Naruto yelled.

Under the hail of ninja tools the Sound shinobi had no choice but to take cover. They ducked behind the trees. They threw their own ninja tools to counter the Shadow Clones. Curses and insults flew from their lips.

Almost home free.

"Our ultimate goal isn't to kill all of the enemy shinobi," she recalled Mimi's words. "We just need to take out as many as it takes to force a retreat. The terrain and location of the temple works perfectly in our advantage. It'll funnel those bastards straight at us, and with Naruto's Shadow Clones and my Water Style ninjutsu we can keep them at a distance, out of range of their attacks while in range of ours."

If it failed they could always retreat. However, the cover provided by the building and the cliff wall was favorable to their circumstances. They could focus on fighting the enemy rather than protecting the children, and with every successful attack they would weaken enemy morale, eventually forcing their retreat.

Inside the temple Sakura checked over Scotch and Emi. Of the two, Scotch was the only to bear any physical harm, the fair-colored skin around her eye discolored by a fresh bruise.

Someone had struck her. Someone down there struck this innocent little girl. Gritting her teeth, the kunoichi clenched her hand into a fist, but quickly reined in her anger. This wasn't the time for it.

"When the battle is over," she began untying Emi's binds and their collars, "we'll take care of your bruise, okay? Please, just hang on a little longer."

"I'll be okay," Scotch declared willfully. "They aren't the first to hit me."

"That isn't the point," murmured the kunoichi. "That doesn't make it okay."

Scotch ignored her. Her concerned eyes fell on Emi, who lay on her side again. Her hair was matted and damp. Her flushed skin glistening and her clothes were noticeably soaked with sweat. The child's wheezing awoke aches in her heart.

"Will Emi be okay?"

"She's burning up again," Sakura diagnosed, hand on the girl's forehead. "I don't see any physical damage, however." She glanced over her shoulder to the doorway and the battlefield beyond. "The stress of being captured and forced to crawl hasn't helped her condition. It's only exacerbated it. We need to get this battle under control so Mimi can look at her. Then she can rest."

But I don't know how much Mimi will be able to do, she thought grimly. Emi was in serious condition before she was taken hostage. She looks far worse now.

"Sasame," she called to the Fūma kunoichi. "Can you look after Scotch and Emi for me? Keep them away from the door and the front walls. We don't know what kind of jutsus the enemy may use or how destructive they may be."

"Ok- okay!"

While Sasame handled the children, Sakura returned to the door and the battle, where they appeared to have reached a stalemate. None of the Naruto's were throwing their ninja tools, wisely conserving what tools they had left while the enemy couldn't be hit.

Likewise, Mimi wasn't firing off any Water Style ninjutsu, standing guard with Aoko.

"What's the matter, you cowards!" Naruto yelled from the roof of the temple. "You sure acted tough when you had children hostage!"

"Borne to be born, breathing but to live, one sunrise and one sunset, Kagerō's life like a mayfly lasts a single day," a deep and guttural male voice called from seemingly the air itself.

"Kagerō?" gasped Sasame.

"A member of the Fūma Clan?" Sakura asked, looking over her shoulder at the kunoichi.

"I can't smell him anywhere," Mimi said beneath her breath. "Sasame, what type of ninjutsu does he use?"

"But pitying one so fleeting is itself pitiable," Kagerō continued.

"We…we have to get out of this temple! Quickly!" she yelled. "Before she—"

"Know that I am at my greatest when lying in the deep and dark!

"Ninja Art: Ant Lion Jutsu!"

In the moment before all hell broke loose Sakura saw Mimi's wide eyes shoot down, directly at the floor beneath her. But it wasn't the floor she was looking at, it was the earth far below them and the sounds of dirt collapsing in on itself that she was alerted by.

Then all hell broke loose.

The floor, the walls, the ceiling; everything began to shake and tremble violently. Fissures ruptured over the wooden staircase, the patternless cracks creaking and groaning as they climbed higher, higher, higher, spreading across the width of the stairs.

Abruptly it shattered with the clamor of a bolt of lightning striking the earth beside them.

The Shadow Clones who had taken up position on the staircase fell straight through the new hole, their cries of panic drowned out by the collapse. Those positioned on the rocky landscape beside the stairs joined them as the stones fragmented and sheared off like sheets of ice off a glacier, sending them plummeting into the sand pit shaped into an inverted funnel, similar to the sand pits created by ant lions to capture prey.

Shino, Sakura felt, would've appreciated the derivation of the jutsu name and its similarities to the insect.

The roaring rapid sands dragged the Shadow Clones towards the source—Kagerō.

The Fūma shinobi was positioned directly beneath the temple, in the center and at the bottom of the sand pit.

"Ah, hell!" Mimi cursed, grabbing onto the doorframe to steady herself. Sakura mirrored her squad leader. Aoko dispelled her transformation and jumped onto her companion's shoulders. "He must have burrowed his way underground to sneak past my sense of smell."

Aoko let out a series of barks.

"Heh! Guess it wasn't half the trouble after all! This seems more like what I expected from teaming up with you guys!"

"Is now really the time for that?" Sakura chuckled darkly.

"Probably not. Sasame, time to get the hell out of here. Naruto! Hang on up there! We're coming to you!"

"Uhhh, you better— whoaaaaaa! Ahhh!"

Two Shadow Clones fell from the roof into the widening pit sinking them. Following them were roof tiles.

"Hurry! This old roof is barely holding together! I can barely keep my balance even with chakra connecting me to it!"

"You heard the Goofball! Let's move!"

Stumbling and swaying, Sasame reached the Leaf kunoichi with the two children. Mimi took Emi, allowing the Fūma to piggyback Scotch. Together they leapt onto the rooftop.

It was as they were exposed to the wind and on unsteady roof tiles shifting beneath them that Sakura caught the sound of whistling ninja tools singing through the air. All around them the weapons whizzed by, bouncing off tiles, dispelling Naruto's Clones as they struggled to balance and retaliate. The roof continued to destabilize.

Equipping ninja tools, the kunoichi whirled around and released. Metal clashed against metal, but it hardly ended the hail of weapons. She spun a kunai into one hand while throwing more shuriken.

I'll provide as much cover as I can.

The roof lurched down beneath them. Sakura knelt down, centering herself as she deflected more ninja tools. Behind her, Mimi and Naruto collapsed down, nearly falling over. Simultaneously, the entire temple began teetering over towards where the stairs once sat.

Pain ripped past Sakura's shoulder. She ignored it, trying to center herself as the whole world was moving beneath her.

Sasame's cry snapped her attention up. The Fūma kunoichi was flat on her chest, face bloodied after crashing against the roof, wrist clutched by Naruto while she reached her hand out helplessly towards Scotch, who was sliding rapidly towards the edge of the roof.

Naruto's cerulean eyes were wide in horror. Mimi's head was still turning, but even then her distressed expression was crystal clear.

The willful orphan girl grabbed at roof tiles, tried to dig her heels and toes into anything. The roof tiles offered no sympathy. No support. They cascaded in a rapidly tumbling sea, hastening her slide towards the edge.

There wasn't a moment to think. The kunai slipped from Sakura's hand, her feet all but glided over the tiles as all manner of ninja tools flew, bounced and ricocheted around her. Another tear unzipped flesh at her right calf. It didn't stumble or distract the kunoichi.

Come on, Sakura. Move. Move. Move! You told Amari next time. Next time you would be strong enough to stand with her, not just as a teammate to fight against Kasai, but as an equal. She always protects everyone, no matter the risk to herself. But she isn't here this time. And the others, they've already done so much.

Something impaled into her thigh. Stumbling once, she caught herself on her hands and knees, and growled at her own weakness.

That's why… This time… When lives are on the line… When someone really needs you…

Scotch slid straight off the roof. Again there was no time to think. There was only time to react.

Sakura dove headfirst after Scotch, her arms outstretched for the falling child.

You have to save her!

"Sakura!" her teammates called out to her.

The force with which she jumped from the room carried her straight to Scotch. There, floating over the sand pit, a kunai impaling her thigh, Sakura caught her. Arms securing the orphan girl, Sakura did not shut her eyes or sigh in relief; there was danger incoming in the shape of rotating blades.

The shuriken slicing through the air was impossible to hear with air rushing past her ears, fluttering her hair. But she didn't need to hear them; she'd seen them when she jumped, aimed heinously for Scotch.

Utilizing her momentum, she spun her body through the air the moment Scotch was safely in her arms. Sharp, hot pain awoke along her back—two of the shurikens found their target. Gravity and spinning had, thankfully, removed her from the path of the others.

Her shoulder was the next to ache, caused by the crash landing at the top of the sand pit. The sand softened the blow, relatively. But it still hurt. Still jammed her shoulder, causing her to grimace.

Instantly the pouring sands began to tug her straight down towards the enemy shinobi, who appeared to be a hunched-back man with large buckteeth despite Sasame referring to Kagerō as she.

A Transformation Jutsu? Sakura disregarded the thought. She could get answers later.

Turning her body, she proceeded to slide down on her back, an act which caused the shurikens in her flesh to be torn free.

The coarse sand rushed all around her. Stones, wood, and roof tiles all became damaging projectiles and debris protruding out of the sand. In the roar of it all, she heard the cries of the Shadow Clones who were fighting to swim upstream as they were buried deeper and deeper.

Scotch clung to her.

The person behind this jutsu, Kagerō, I can see them at the center of the pit, she analyzed. She tried to dig her feet into the sand and slow her slide, to no avail. I can't get any footing in this sand. And if I wait too long to get into range, all I have done is gotten us both killed.

Sakura grit her teeth. Come on, think. Think. Why burrow in beneath us? If they could use this jutsu, why not just use it at range? Why stay in the center of the pit? Unless…

Unless the jutsu required her to stay at its epicenter, that way she could continue feeding chakra into the surrounding earth until all of her enemies were gone. But if she could get her out of the dirt…

"Know that I am at my greatest when lying in the deep and dark!"

Heh, Sakura smiled to herself. Thanks for telling me. Now I know how to put an end to this jutsu of yours.

She brought her hands together behind Scotch's back. Her emerald eyes scanned the rapids of sand for a solid object of any kind. When she saw a slab of rock further down, jutting out of the sand, she redirected her slide towards it.

It's just a basic form of the jutsu. It isn't very strong. Not yet. But this time it doesn't need to be strong.

Noticing her movements, Kagerō raised his arms out of the sand with three kunai in each hand.

"Hang on tight, Scotch," Sakura said calmly. "Everything is going to be okay. I'm going to protect you no matter what."

Scotch clung tighter to her.

She began to weave handseals behind her back.

Tiger, Hare, Boar, Dog.

I can tell you're still standing on solid earth. That's why my jutsu doesn't have to be strong at all. All it has to do is…

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

To the surprise of Kagerō the very earth she stood upon suddenly lurched a meter and a half towards the sky, revealing her hunched formed in its entirety, removing the Fūma shinobi from the epicenter of the pit.

Is get you out of that hole and into the open!

The rushing sands halted, but Sakura continued to slide. This time she was in control.

Utilizing chakra she channeled to her back and hips, shaping it to be smooth like the bottom of a sled, she maintained her momentum. Meanwhile the Shadow Clones in the sand were trying to tug and dig themselves out.

Desperate, Kagerō prepared to drop back into the sand, knowing she could regain control of her jutsu if she could return to the pit. She threw his kunais at the vulnerable kunoichi.

The sound of a chain rattling through the air preluded the clanging of metal meeting metal. A kunai attached to the end of the chain deflected the blades, never losing its path, even redirecting itself in the air with unnatural flexibility.

"That blade and chain!" Kagerō gasped, eyes flicking up the hill.

Again she was left bewildered. Gliding down the sand with chakra on the soles of his feet was Daisuke, already retracting his chain, bearing the expression of the shinobi he once was.

"Touch another hair on either of their heads and I'll end you! Do you hear me, Kagerō!" roared Daisuke.

Daisuke? Sakura was shocked, too, but she wasn't distracted. Her vision was clear, her goal straight ahead of her in the form of a stone jutting out of the sand.

Daisuke zipped down the sand straight past her, on a direct path for his former clansmen. His chain bent and snaked through the air as it retracted towards him. But once the kunai was in his grip once more, he clutched it tightly and lunged for Kagerō.

"You will murder and kidnap no one else!" Daisuke declared. "Your dreams to restore our Clan has turned into this Nations nightmare! If Hanzaki won't do anything to stop you, then I will! In honor of all those who lost their lives and called the Fūma Clan home, I will stop you!"

Kagerō leapt straight up, evading the slash. Simultaneously, Sakura's foot found the stone. And with it solid ground.

Her emerald eyes flashed dangerously as they locked onto the floating and helpless form of her enemy.

That's right, she thought. The Clan you're creating isn't a home at all. You've kidnapped children, facilitating an environment for them to be tortured and killed. Like Amber. Like…Tayuya. You even planted paper bombs on Emi and Scotch.

Sakura planted her foot strongly against the stone, then launched herself after the enemy shinobi. Kagerō appeared to sense the danger before the Leaf kunoichi's shadow fell over her. Her head turned, eyes wide at the sight of Sakura's leg loaded for a kick.

Last time, against Tayuya's puppets, I unleashed one hundred percent concentrated power and hurt myself in the process. But those things weren't alive. They couldn't feel pain.

Channeling chakra to her striking limb, a growl began to rumble up through her chest and into her throat.

My body isn't ready for that kind of power. I still need to train more. But, in this battle, I don't need to use one hundred percent concentrated power. All I have to do is hit you hard enough to get you away from this sand pit!

"CHAAAA!"

Her kick landed. She swore she heard Kagerō's bones crack, swore she felt it in the sole of her sandal. Then Kagerō was sent hurtling away from her, torpedoing straight into the face of a boulder. The enemy shinobi's body fractured the stone before falling limp to the ground.

Eyes flicking left, from the birds eye view of the battlefield, the kunoichi could see Kamikiri and Jigumo rushing towards their fallen comrade, along with the ninja tools flying directly towards her.

"Sakura, grab on!"

Again the metal rattle of Daisuke's unraveling chain reached her ears.

The kunai blade flew around her, the chain bending in front of her body. Sakura snatched the chain, then felt herself being yanked rapidly towards the sand pit as the chain retracted. She could hear nothing over the cold air whipping past her ears, but she could see the enemy weapons sail over her.

The flight lasted for no more than a few seconds. As quick as it had begun, it ended with Daisuke catching her and Scotch together, the force of which knocked him onto his back.

There was, somehow, less pain than she imagined thrumming along her back and thigh. Adrenaline, of course. It numbed the pain, kept her revved up and focused on what needed to be done rather than what had already happened.

"We need to join the others," Sakura said. She fought through a grimace to stand quickly. "We won't be safe down here for long. I'll carry Scotch. Frankly, there isn't much I can do in my condition to defend us. Not at a distance, anyway. But you can. So let's go."

"Hey, hey. Slow down," Daisuke tried to coax. Tried to stop her from climbing up the dune on an injured leg.

"No time," she grimaced. "We need to regroup with the others and get out of here. I can endure this. Protecting Scotch and Emi is all that matters."

Keep moving. Don't stop. Keep moving. Move. Move. Move, she chanted it like a mantra. Standing still on the battlefield is asking to die. So climb. Keep moving forward, no matter what.

The muscles in her back were beginning to tremble and burn with pain every time they flexed. The slippery sand and angle of the pit made her leg hurt like hell.

If I was the enemy, I would keep Mimi's part of the squad pinned down so a few shinobi could advance on us. I can almost picture them running towards the pit now. We're sitting ducks down here. But even if we reach the top…

They would put themselves in range of the entire enemy squad. To avoid further injury, as soon as they reached the top they would need to jump quickly to the craggy cliff face behind the leaning temple obstructing their path, climb up it and regroup with the others. Then they'd have to run.

The thought of running made the muscles feel heavy, fatigued, like she'd spent the whole afternoon sparring with Amari. But she tried to think of the objectives alone, not the pain building in her body, not the feeling of lead filling her leg.

Reach the top. Jump to the mountain. Climb it. Run. It wasn't so bad. They were practically home free already.

I'm okay. I'm okay. Just keep moving. Don't stop.

---

Takako watched as the pink-haired kunoichi and the newcomer became visible on the other end of the sand pit. She watched the comrades to rush the dunes lift their blades while the remaining few allied shinobi left loosed ninja tools at the enemy squad leader and blond shinobi, pinning the kunoichi's reinforcements down.

Kamikiri and Jigumo had returned with the injured Kagerō, shaken by the sight of the Fūma Jōnin taken down by who they perceived as a weak child. They were still underestimating their enemy. She refused to continue making that same mistake.

For that reason, the shinobi ahead weren't aiming at the kunoichi or the newcomer. They were aiming their paper bombs at the leaning temple's weak points to drop it on top of the enemy.

"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld."

The sound of the menacing voice paralyzed Takako in place. Cold chills raced down her spine, her heart seemed to stop only to then skip rapidly. Though the voice was that of a stranger, the icy tone of their voice and the purposeful unveiling of their powerful presence froze her.

Ahead on the battlefield, a dark, revolting swamp opened up beneath the two Sound shinobi aiming for the temple. They began to sink instantly into the muddy substance, half of their bodies submerging in a second. Their horrified cries died out as their heads sank out of sight a second later.

"Now, Summoning Jutsu!"

Before the Sound kunoichi could turn around to face the overwhelming presence three more of her comrades cried out in agony. The smoke around them cleared, revealing they had not perished in the attack, but were instead squashed beneath an orange toad two to three heads taller than the adult humans squirming under it.

Atop the back of the toad was an older man with long and wild white hair, bearing two long red lines leading from the corner of his eyes like red tears streaming down his cheeks.

"These young shinobi are a feisty bunch, aren't they?" he said, his features severe and eyes drawn to the sand pit beyond and the kunoichi carrying the orphan child. "Strong willed, stubborn, rascally. Heh," he smirked, "almost reminds me of my own comrades when we were children. They've done one hell of a job holding all of you back. They even saved the hostages you so callously took. I think they've earned a break. However, unfortunately for you lot…"

His severe eyes locked onto them, his gaze akin to the sight of death itself. Immediately Takako swallowed roughly, stumbling and falling over in fear.

"Now you're dealing with me."

"Re- retreat, you fools!" she cried out. "It's Master Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin!"

A cruel smile formed on his lips. "My reputation precedes me wherever I go."

Before she could rise to her feet the legendary shinobi vanished. An instant later a blue hue glowed over the the dark grass, and another of her comrades let out a cry of agony. Air whipped through the trees as the power of the technique shot the poor bastard through the forest, through the trunks of trees, felling them and the man in a single blow.

"Be warned, flattery won't save any of you. To abduct children as hostages for your Master's twisted ways is unforgivable!"

Shinobi injured by the firework flare and ninja tools struggled to pick themselves up, some attempting to stumble and run away while others launched at the legendary shinobi to buy time for their comrades.

Takako scrambled to her feet and ran.

As she dashed through the forest, the cries of her comrades followed, drawing her eyes back in fear to see a wall of flames chasing her and the others to flee.

Unfortunate wounded comrades too slow to escape were engulfed in the inferno. She could only watched as the licking flames reached out towards her.

Closer. Closer. Closer.

She could feel the heat on her skin.

The flames stopped abruptly, before they could swallow her.

Takako escaped to the opposite side of the grove, grabbed one of her injured comrades from their first failed entry through the forest and retreated to the Sound Village. Never looking back.

Later, she would learn in the chaos of it all that Kamikiri, Jigumo and Kagerō managed to escape through the grove, too. It didn't matter much to the kunoichi. Their losses were severe, and in the end they had little to show for it.

However, fortune smiled upon Takako again. So rather than waste time lamenting the failure to stop the Leaf shinobi, she considered what the reasonable next move would be.

For the battle against the Leaf was not over yet. They would be back. Indeed, they would return.

And next time it would be their Village under siege.

---

Review Response to NarutoFan: While the general appearance of chakra cloaks was from tailed-beasts wielders in the actual Naruto story, I think there were a few instances where there were others that had them. I remember Haku in the Land of Waves arc suddenly having chakra streaming off his body before he formed his Crystal Ice Mirrors, there was also Zabuza's demon chakra, which we saw again when he was reanimated in the anime. And I think when Kiba took food pills in the Chunin Exams he was cloaked in chakra, for a moment anyway. However, those are small instances and probably have more to do with them about to use a jutsu or for aesthetics.

The in-story explanation for Amari and Mimi and other characters chakra cloaks is usually because they are releasing all of their power, for lack of a better way to say it. I also use it to show the strength of their chakra, where even at their age Amari, Mimi and Kasai, who also has shown a cloak, have this intense level of chakra for different reasons. Sometimes boosted by food pills, sometimes because of lineage, sometimes because they've lost control of all of their emotions.

The non-story reason is I like how it looks in my head. It's probably a result of growing up watching Super Saiyans in Dragon Ball Z.

As for Amari's chakra cloak changing color, that has both an in-story reason and a non-story reason. The in-story reason is that, since chakra reflects its user, when she gives into the Curse of Hatred her chakra shifts completely, replacing light with darkness. The non-story reason is similar, its the symbolism of Amari being consumed by darkness when it shifts black, and when its green, since that was Shisui's Susanoo color, it is symbolic of her Will of Fire and connection with him.

Yeah, Orochimaru getting off free because he had a sudden "change of heart" and aided the war, when he could've just as easily decided to destroy the Leaf if Sasuke had chosen that instead, is a strange situation. Definitely considering how many lives he ruined. We'll have to wait and see what happens to him in this story.

I hope you enjoy another display of Jiraiya the shinobi. More to see of that soon.

I'd like to delve a little more into fuinjutsu and other Seals in this story, but I can't really say how far I'll go with it. Though I have thought about the Seal of Amaterasu Jiraiya has from time to time, and how cool it would've been if during the Pain fight he had pulled it out and used it to destroy a Pain or two for a callback to that moment in the original Naruto series.

I do think of other cross-overs from time to time. Some are just funny little one-shots based in absurdity. Others are more serious. The reason I sent Amari to the My Hero world, besides my own selfish desire to write that scenario and have her interact with those characters, was because I eventually plan to write a My Hero fanfic following Yukiko's story. So I wanted Amari to have a real impact on that story and its characters, as well as have it impact her and this story. So any future cross-overs, besides funny and absurd humorous instances, will need to hit one or both of those same qualifiers. They'll either need to personally effect Amari and impact her path as a character, or I'll need to have a fanfic in mind for the alternate universe so she can impact those characters and their story. Or both.

Overall, I don't want to oversaturate the story with Amari's adventures to other worlds, funny as they may be. Also, I'd like to experiment more with alternate realities of her own world. I think there is an interesting potential for impactful stories there.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you for the review!