AYAKA

Ayaka Nara was quite sure she was dying. Her labored breaths had only grown more intense with her steady sprinting and her initially pretty pink Kimono was stained a fresh red from a wound she dared not stop to tend to which was annoying, kimono's were far from cheap. After running almost solidly without sleep for two days, knew she ought to stop soon or perish. She cursed herself for taking on this solo A-rank mission, although she could never quite sate the urge she had to accept the allure a challenge. The shinobi lifestyle was a dangerous thing to find oneself romanticizing yet she couldn't help but succumb to the gory allure that glamorized the kill-or-be-killed mentality.

Logically, the future branch family head knew that her death would have no significant impact to the Leaf - there probably was someone the Nara council could push into her position, after all. It was a fact that irked her to no end how flimsy her status was. After all, despite her Jonin status and a supposed elevation to her political standing, ANBU agents frequently went missing. Ayaka was no heir, despite being Shikaku's legal ward, you weren't an heir and you went missing ... she would be just another statistic should she fail now.

It was the double edged sword ANBU agents carried. In the shadows of ANBU, there was not yet a legacy to a name. If they died, there would never be, no matter how elite they were and for Ayaka Nara that was simply unacceptable.

Given her current mission, she was questioning Tsunade-sama's lack of foresight. Not that her Hokage wasn't a brilliant leader, Ayaka had been loyal to Sarutobi too, but Tsunade was someone she personally admired. While her loyalty was incorruptible, it didn't mean she always agreed with her superiors. She would put her life in the line to fulfill their orders but she would argue if she felt herself sound. Only sheep followed wolves like kage blindly and Ayaka was far from it. Tsunade was a natural leader though and Ayaka could see it. It didn't matter how the blonde Sannin felt about the position, some people were just born to be great.

Ayaka was herself was an eye catching girl and more importantly she knew exactly how to utilize her assets to the best of her range of abilities. Unfortunately, while this mission to seduce the warden of one of Orochimaru's hideouts, and locate said hideout had seemed to be a logical mission to assign the current protege of the ANBU head of seduction. It wasn't like she would dare reject any mission to track down the snake Sannin. To catch or kill him would be an honor of the highest accolades, second only to Itachi Uchiha. Not to mention, it satisfy her morbid curiosity about how the dark haired Sannin had enticed the baby Uchiha out of the village. The one that Shikamaru had almost killed half his graduating class trying to retrieve.

What Ayaka and the hokage hadn't foreseen was the fact that the warden was a mere teenage girl, without any interest in the fairer sex and even more worrying, a powerful sensor who easily could see through her henge. She hadn't in her life met a more proficient sensor than that warden. Sensors and tracking types were scary, Ayaka knew that all too well even though her skills in the field were mediocre at best.

Ayaka had found herself under attack a mere day into her pretense to be a high end escort at tea house said warden was rumored to frequent when she'd been attacked. Luckily for her, she was not just a pretty face in luxury kimono's, not that she could ever be just that and in the field. Both as an ANBU, and noting all of her promotions had been in the field, she was a dangerous opponent in any circumstance. Still seven against one hadn't been the best of odds and whilst she knew she'd confirmed at least three kills, unless said attackers could survive decapitation – one never really knew with Orochimaru's underlings - it meant that she potentially had a maximum of four pursuers on her trail. A pity she was trying to be stealthy while fleeing, if she truly let loose from the get go, they'd all be dead. Ayaka did not however want to risk her identity as a Konoha nin ending up in a bingo book just yet. Like all shinobi, she had her enemies so flashy kills and death battles in enemy territory were best to be avoided.

It had been dumb luck on her pursuers part that she'd let her guard down enough to be injured. Honestly, how she'd forgotten she held a activated custom explosive tag whilst trying to break the genjustu placed upon her was beyond her. After all the person who thought her how to make them always stressed that concentration was key to their correct use and she usually was proficient at fighting average Genjutsu users. The rookie mistake had cost her, and she was bleeding heavily from the wound on her side and left with only one usable arm. She didn't dare contemplate what she'd done to the chakra coils in her arm with carelessness. Yoshino would certainly lecture her half to death if her Kage did not.

Her best hope of survival was to make it to the Land of Tea undetected where she could let loose and kill her pursuers or find help. She distinctly remembered that the newbie Leaf Jonin that skipped straight to his rank from genin during the chuunin exams at the sand, would be stationed there for at least a week guarding the Tea Daimyo at some festival - thank kami for Hana's idle gossip. Requesting aid from the Hyuuga branch family prodigy, whom she was told often preached about fate, would simply be an annoyance she'd have to endure this time around.

Tossing a pair of kunai behind her at the faintest hint of chakra she was not surprised to see a body fall lifeless from a tree. Noting her kunai had both pierced the neck and forehead respectively, she kept her harsh pace. Her opponents were clearly not well trained ninja, attacking her one by one was simply not good planning. Either they always worked independently or they simply had little use for self preservation. Surely by now they could tell she was no mere chuunin, which meant they were using the pursuit of her as some kind of sport or they had a death wish. It was a pity really, if she truly were to die here - due to blood loss from a self inflicted injury - against such feeble foe. Avoiding stopping completely, she used a fire jutsu on her abdomen wound cringing at the pain as it seared the wound that was seeping blood again. It would stop the bleeding and reduce any potential for infection but she hoped against all logic that it wouldn't scar. Seduction in the ANBU would be problematic if she came home littered with battle scars and she shuddered to think where they'd transfer her in such an event. Maybe she ought to pick up some basic medical jutsu when she got back to the Leaf. Yoshino would be thrilled.

Suddenly she paused, sensing the barest of chakra in front of her. Ayaka was not a sensory ninja, at least not one of merit. However, her two years of jonin experience as well as taking on dangerous field missions had forced her to hone her listening skills in that department. It was simply bad practice for ANBU of her caliber to be snuck up on. Unsheathing her trusted katana, she waited while sending chakra to her ears. Maybe she couldn't quite sense them yet, but she'd be damned if she was going to run in blindly towards her death. Nara's did not make foolish moves.

Palming a kunai in her less dominant and injured hand, she tossed it with great effort towards the side, certain the sound of rustling she'd heard was against the wind. True to her suspicions, she heard cussing as two more almost muted chakra signatures appeared before her. She smirked at the audacity.

So they'd finally decided to work as a team? Ayaka chuckled, while this would've been a great plan at the start when they'd had a seven to one ratio but against a jonin level ANBU, three chuunin level targets against her would normally not be a problem. They really ought to have kept trying to run her to the point of exhaustion - given her blood loss it would've been soon. Katana in hand and her chakra flaring with killing intent she charged at her towards her opponents. Since she didn't need to be stealthy any longer, she'd fight all out.

It was about damn time she let loose.

NEJI

They all felt the flare of malicious chakra south of the Daimyo's mansion. He barely noted Ino's eyes widen in recognition and Akamaru's worried whine. Kiba stilled to his left tension radiating off him as they all glanced at the oblivious Daimyo enjoying a hot stone massage. Activating his Byakugan, Neji scanned the area towards where he sensed the chakra. Spotting what seemed to be a fight, three to one approximately 500 m from the mansion, close to the land of tea's border he swallowed a groan. He noted the brunette woman wore the Leaf emblem on her arm - her headband serving as a makeshift tourniquet. His eyes narrow dangerously at the sight. She was a comrade - familiar looking- but not someone he knew by name.

"You two know this Chakra?" He asked coolly already noting his current team looked ready to bolt. Ino and Kiba were both hot headed in their own ways though, so he was thankful they'd shown the barest evidence of restraint. If Naruto have been present, no doubt he'd already be racing towards the fray.

"Its Ayaka senpai's," Ino murmured her hands drifting towards her weapons pouch instinctively, "She's Shikamaru's older cousin. You'd know her as the future Nara branch family head." He nodded, eyes fixed on the fight, and glanced towards Kiba. The Yamanaka and Nara families were close so it made sense the heiress knew her but still, Neji was intrigued.

Not many families granted their branch members representatives power but as far as he knew, the Nara, Yamanaka and Akamichi did within limits. As a Hyuuga the entire idea of a branch member having any political sway was unthinkable. That power was reserved for the council, clan heads, heirs and in the rarest of circumstances talented spares like Hanabi.

"She's Hana's friend," Kiba added tensely answering his unasked question about how he knew her, "Not that it should matter, but we can't let a Leaf Jonin die."

Inwardly, Neji groaned at his words. Whilst the injured kunoichi looked familiar and was kicking ass, he hadn't been planning to intervene due to their current mission. Yet, he could already tell his subordinates wouldn't let it happen and protocol would be damned regardless. Aside from that, while the kunoichi was handling herself well from what he could see, there was little chance she was uninjured.

But he couldn't allow both the Yamanaka heir and the Inuzuka spare to run off on their own given it was his first Jonin mission, not only were they obligated to not leave their client unguarded but it was his job to figure out how to handle this situation. That was why he was made Jonin . Luckily it was unlikely the Daimyo would be attacked. Honestly, the mission was a farce to begin with, his dysfunctional team thrown together on the spot by a preoccupied Tsunade who simply wanted to get rid of some easy B-Ranks provided by a small Daimyo they often humored by upping the mission rank due to his title.

"Can you and Akamaru handle being alone with the Daimyo? She's probably going to win this fight, but it looks like she's injured." At Akamaru's whine, Neji began sprinting, noting Ino following immediately. He didn't dare deactivate his Byakugan, watching the battle intensify.

"How bad is it?" Ino asked with concern as she matched his pace with more grace then a Shinobi ought to have. Neji was surprised the Yamanaka heiress could keep his harsh pace but realistically he knew that on Team 10, the hard working one was Ino. He could not even begin to imagine Chouji, or kami forbid, Shikamaru, doing any form of endurance training

It was ironic. Every team of the Konoha 12 had a team member that had relentlessly striven to be the 'best' with, dare he admit it, cool confidence and self assurance above which they were entitled to. Himself was obvious for Team Gai, as was the mess that had been Sasuke Uchiha for Team Kakashi. Anyone that actually dared to look closely at Team Kurenai would realize that Shino Aburame followed the same pattern. As for Team Asuma, they'd gotten the surprise of the bossy heiress, Ino Yamanaka occupying the role that Shikamaru couldn't be bothered to fill. Ino had been runner up for Rookie of the year when she'd graduated. While Sakura had the best theory scores and Sasuke the best practical, the Yamanaka heiress had been on paper the most rounded candidate, especially if you factored in mental, physical and emotional stability. Pity the grading system that allocated rookie of the year didn't account for that.

"I can see a lot of blood on her. She's won though. Just heal her when we get there," Neji replied, making an effort to keep his tone reassuring. Mentally he tried to place the girl they were tracking. Ayaka Nara was tall, easily his height with dark brown hair barely hitting her shoulders and eyes glinting red. He supposed she was beautiful, her features were certainly interesting enough. He hadn't seen her use her clan jutsu, which was tactically smart given the nature of the fight.

She fought with the ferocity of a cornered beast. Neji had never seen something quite like it.

She obviously knew her way around a sword, he'd just seen her decapitate all three opponents with carefully graceful moves, but her unusual attire of a full kimono stood out to him. Had there not been such a girl in his academy days? He did remember besting some clan kid whom had the audacity to wear a full kimono to a spar but she hadn't been in his class long. She'd been reassigned a class shortly afterward and he'd not bothered to take note of where she'd gone. Mentally, he noted that the fight hadn't exactly been one sided but he pushed the thought aside. Ayaka Nara had most likely been a class mate he'd not taken note off, due to their difference in skill. Even watching the fight now, the woman clearly favored kenjustu in close range combat.

Not that there was much difference in the two in terms of effectiveness. Both fighting styles were equally deadly on a battlefield. Kiba had mentioned her Jonin status. He was aware that there had been others from his academy days already bestowed with his rank. But Ayaka Nara? Surely he'd have noticed the name on the jonin mission lists. Which only left one option, Ayaka was ANBU. He wondered what her alias was.

"You call an ANBU agent Senpai?" he asked Ino, mildly surprised. The implications were obvious and Ino didn't deign him with a response, her silence confirming his suspicions. So it would seem that Ino was being sought after by ANBU or at least being considered. Definitely, not what he'd expected to discover on this mission.

Arriving at the already ended battle and watching the fatigued kunoichi who fell at the sight of comrades, or rather his blonde companion, he allowed Ino to fuss over her. Medical ninjutsu was not his forte so he allowed himself to survey the damage. Three bodies, all slightly singed and headless surrounded him. Kunai littered the forest floor and he noted signs of water jutsu use as well.

He really did not want to know which poor soul would be given the task of matching each severed head to its respective body. A katana lay nearby, the Nara girl had obviously dropped it post battle in her fatigue. He picked up the blade noting it was a standard katana, that the Jonin had accessorized slightly. He thumbed the rosary decorating the hilt, its symbol foreign to him. Was she religious? That would be odd, given her current occupation. Shinobi didn't exactly live sinless lives at the end of the day. How benevolent did she think her Kami was?

Overall, there wasn't much damage to the blade. The fight had obviously been controlled and the outcome quite obviously inevitable. He wondered if she was a head hunter given her flair for decapitation, but then dismissed the thought. She was Ino's senpai. Surely they would not wish to recruit Ino Yamanaka as a head hunter. Head hunters in the leaf were actually specialized trainee's for ANBU that would eventually take on high ranking missions. Leaf head hunters usually apprenticed an ANBU captain once they found a niche. Essentially, it was the ANBU equivalent to the difference between ending up in the Genin corps or apprenticing a Jonin. Worthy chuunin were usually pulled into the program shortly after gaining their rank. Maybe Ino had tried out and failed? He'd probably never know.

Once first aid was done he picked up the Nara girl delicately, ordering Ino to seal the bodies and follow him as they made their way back to the Daimyo's mansion, pace harsher and silence heavy. Ino seemed concerned about the wound on the girl's side and her blood loss. He told himself he didn't care, but in all honestly, after spying on that fight with his byakugan, it would be a pity if such a skilled kunoichi died on his first mission.

Plus, she was really a pretty thing now that he'd seen her up close. It felt like he was a knight rescuing the princess in one of Hinata's childhood picture books.

Only, this princess was covered in battle wounds and gore and had technically saved herself.