Thanks to those who have R+Red… and a note to the person who said I killed off their favourite character… READ THE MANGA PLEASE! This fic involves chapter 137 of book 16 which if you only watch the anime WON'T HAPPEN FOR ANOTHER 40 EPISODES OR SO! SPOILERS ABOUND. You have been warned.

-aks

~ CONTINUED ~

            There wasn't time to grieve.

            War hovered over Konoha like haze on a mid-August morning.

            It started in the middle of a Chuunin selection match. Only then did the Leaf learn it was not solely Orochimaru and the Sound ninja they were fighting, but the Sand as well.

            Junko and three other Anbu set out on their mission, but first, she had to pay her respects. She had not yet visited the memorial. His funeral had been hard enough. As per his will, Hayate was cremated and his ashes scattered in the lush Fire Country forest. His friends and family were devastated to lose him, but all around, their eyes shared a certain relief; he had gone quickly. They had that to be thankful for.

            Junko knelt before the memorial and brushed her gloved fingers over the sharp, new engraving that read 'Gekkou Hayate'. "You shall be avenged," she whispered, her brows arched with sorrow.

            "Let's go," the taller of her companions ordered. Now was not the time for emotion.

            Junko's expression went blank. She nodded and put on her assassin's mask. "Yes," the assassin answered and they vanished.

*

            Nearly 10 years ago, Junko had wanted to become not an assassin but a medical ninja. She worked in the hospital as a candy striper, assisting the nurses and seeing to the patients' basic needs. One afternoon she was chatting idly with a nurse when a young man was being wheeled down a hall on a gurney. He was unconscious. A drip hung from the pole attached to the gurney; nothing out of the ordinary for a hospital, but then someone said, "ah, he's back again," and still unconscious, Gekkou Hayate entered Kuatsu Junko's life.

            "Again?" she asked, innocently.

            "Yeah. Poor kid. He's one of those Gekkous."

            "What's a Gekkou?"

            The nurse laughed at that. "It's this unfortunate clan. Most of the members inherit a degenerative disease. They're really nice folks, but they don't last long."

            Junko was already wandering away, following the gurney as it turned into a recovery room. When the doctor left the room she sneaked in and looked at his chart. He was only 20 she read, but having hardly even a basic knowledge of medical terminology; words like 'dyspnea' and 'edema' meant nothing to her.

             "You're new, aren't you?" *cough, cough* his soft, cool voice startled her. The clipboard clattered to the ground.

            "I... I'm sorry!" Junko cried and clumsily put the chart back where it belonged. "I shouldn't…" She started to back out.

            "It's all right." He smiled softly. *cough, cough* "Please don't run away. It's really all right. I'm not contagious."

            His smile drew her back into the room. Sadness radiated from him as if the smile were nothing more than a mask. "What are you here for?" she asked, touching the unintelligible chart.

            "Congestive heart failure," he answered, laying the hand without the IV across his heart. "Both sides."

            "That's horrible!" Junko gasped. "Does that mean… you're dying?"

            He laughed and coughed a little. "Aren't we all?"

            There it was. If she looked above the smile and into his eyes, the sadness burned there like a candle guttering before it went out. "No," she whispered. "We're all living." She took the visitor's seat and sat with him for most of the afternoon.

*

            In the melee it was hard to tell just who was winning. Junko bounded off walls and sprinted through the streets, her katana touching everything not wearing Konoha's symbol in sight. As an Anbu, Junko was one of the best: a cold, calculating killer. Her job was not to protect or defend but to attack. She had yet to take damage as so many other Leaf nin fell around her.

            After nearly an hour of intense fighting, a sharp, high-pitched whistle told them it was over. Junko panted and looked around through the slits in her mask. Two Leaf Anbu helped each other to stand, but as far as she could see there were nothing but enemy bodies. It always took a little while for her to come back to reality after a good fight, but this had been an unusually arduous battle. She sank to her knees into a puddle of blood.

            "Tori-san," a familiar voice called from behind. "You hurt?" The large Anbu man squatted down next to her.

            "No," she raised her bird mask. "Just spent."

            He gave her a hand getting up. "Better mask back up," he advised. "Something's wrong over at the coliseum."

            "It's not over, yet, eh?"

            "I think it is…" His voice was tinged with worry.

More to come….

And more spoilers.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

072903