Chapter 15.

Hours later.

Hazel's health is still deteriorating. A few times the girl swallowed bile threatening to erupt. The pain is excruciating yet she still continued suffering in silence. Hazel feared what would come if she couldn't keep herself together. Her new illness can wait. It has to. Now if only Kakuzu's job was this simple, for they are in much deeper trouble than he anticipated.

'They are fast. I was hoping to have gained more distance by now, but they are still too close. If I don't break away soon, I won't have enough time to sneak pass the border.' The dawn is breaking, he should be able to make it to the border by dusk. While that may seem like plenty of time the missing-nin would rather act now than wait and hope for the best. Kakuzu is going to strike. It won't be without cost but it should be worth it. His plan should either slow down the ANBU or at the very least break up their team. Either would be a favorable outcome that could aid with their escape.

"Hazel, don't scream." He paused and landed on a partially fallen tree. To help keep her quiet he covered her eyes with his hand. He grimaced and winced as the skin on his back stretched and tore. Hazel can overhear the sound of threads snapping and what sounded like leather rustling. The girl knew what he was doing but she pretended she didn't. Hazel is still working on accepting 'this' side of Kakuzu. She got use to the magical powers but having those… 'creatures' inside of him is going to take even more time to adjust to. LOADS OF TIME.

"Ok." She responded. With a groan, one of his masked hearts burst from within his body and soared back towards the ANBU. He will lose his wind nature chakra with this sacrifice but this jutsu is sure to surprise the ANBU. Hazel waited patiently for Kakuzu to uncover her eyes. When he did, he saw the discoloration in her face.

"Damn it." Kakuzu muttered before taking off again.

'That's why she was acting up before. Of course, she's sick…' He is upset but miraculously can't find himself blaming her. They had been living in a cave at the top of a frigid mountain after hundreds of miles of hiking. She is still a civilian child, he supposed it should be more shocking that it didn't happen sooner, but the timing couldn't have been any more awful.

'I can't stop. It seems she understands this too and is bearing it. If she stays complacent then we should still be fine.' While Kakuzu sprinted his heart made contact with the ANBU trailing behind.

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"GOD DAMNIT WHAT IS THAT FUCKING THING?!" The rookie yelped. Out of the 6 ANBU and dog, no one had a semblance of an idea. This…thing just flew over their heads and began circling the squad. It's black and it's entirely composed of what appears to be tentacles? With a mask as a face, it's quite the disturbing sight. The only kunoichi present addressed their captain with a nervous tone.

"How should we proceed Ram?" Captain Ram watched the monster soar above them. It is obvious that this is a distraction sent by the targets. A good one too but Ram is easily one of the most stubborn shinobi in all of Konoha. His stubbornness was even the inspiration behind his ANBU codename.

"Stay on task! You all- "He pointed towards 4 members of the squad. "-dispose of that creature. The rest of us will continue pursuit in the meantime. After that ya'll better catch up. No one is permitted to die. Ok, I don't want to hear about how it's a 'flying monster' or whatever garbage excuse you can spew out your mouths. If any of you disobey that order I will go so far as to order a séance the moment I get back to the village. Just to give you an earful beyond the grave. If that doesn't work, I'll order the morticians to cremate you and I'll use your ashes as fertilizer for my garden. UNDERSTOOD?" The four nodded, it's ironic but they're slightly relaxed by his threats.

"-Great, follow me!" Ram took off with the Inuzuka clansman and his dog. The detached wind nature heart spewed a powerful gust of wind out of its 'mouth' towards the renegade group trying to escape but one of the four ANBU members stepped forward. A man by the codename Flamingo. (Much to his anguish) Flamingo held his arms out to hold back his teammates before any of them could try to block the attack.

"I've got it! - "He weaved a hefty amount of hand signs before he brought a set of fingertips to his lips.

"Wind style- wind release stream!" A long and narrow gust of air pierced the sky and flew right at the creature's wind attack. When the two clashed Flamingo's more fine and precise wind jutsu disrupted the gust and dispersed the creature's jutsu before it could hit their fleeing teammates. The tendril monster tried to attack the captain's group again, but Flamingo only had to cast the same jutsu. This earned the monster's attention and it turned its attacks towards the four. The kunoichi, being second in command, took lead over their newly formed team.

"Good work! Alright, hit that thing with any long range jutsu you've got! Let's get this over with!"

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Another hour later.

Kakuzu sensed the team separate awhile back. The two are still right on his tail while the other 4 are out of his sensing range. He was tempted to send another one of his hearts but settled on waiting. He wouldn't feel confident entering a fight with all six of them carrying only three hearts. If they are still on their trail before dusk, he may go through with it. But he wants to hold off and see what damage the wind nature heart dishes out. He glanced down at the child. Her skin is green tinged and he's sure she is about to lose consciousness. The child can feel her eyelids become heavy and she couldn't understand how she was so tired. She is trying to stay awake but Hazel didn't know how much longer she could hold out for. The girl didn't want to fall asleep, not when so much is happening.

'I was fine. I was literally just fine. Is it stress? Did that dirt swimming spell hurt me? Swimming in dirt…it…it can't….be…healthy…Shit- 'Bile was spewing past her lips before she could try to stop it. The sickly warm fluid blanketed Kakuzu's chest, shoulder, and arm. Hazel's bag is also covered but that is irrelevant comparatively. While Kakuzu is still technically moving- Hazel can feel him freeze up against her body. She can't think of anything. The overwhelming sense of doom is making it impossible. The girl couldn't look at his face either, not even utter an apology for puking on him. She merely prepared herself for his retaliation. The child felt his arm twitch, but he didn't hurt her. It just twitched and then…nothing. Hazel took a few breaths and waited until she felt safe again.

"S-Sorry." Kakuzu kept quiet.

That twitch was easily the closest brush with death she's had to date.

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2 hours later.

The ANBU team of four are still fighting the wind nature heart Kakuzu sent. The creature is allusive and continues to dodge their attacks. Just when one of them believed they had it, the thing would swerve its flight path to avoid harm. What made it more frustrating is the fact the creature had managed to land some critical hits on them. 2 of the four definitely won't be able to continue with the mission and Flamingo's condition is debatable. The Kunoichi, Owl, has been agile enough to avoid most of the monster's attacks and is still fit to fight. The four had created another plan to try to strike the monster out of the sky but many were without hope. They have tried a dozen plans but the monster is still unharmed. But they have to try if they don't they'll be guaranteeing death. One of the injured shinobi, the rookie also known as Coyote, is leading the monster into an ambush…. ANOTHER ambush. The other three had prepared their jutsus and were waiting for the monster to get within range. The kunoichi, still in command, kept an eye out and waited to make the call.

"Get ready, the bastards heading our way…. Annnnnnd FIRE!" Flamingo set off another wind style jutsu while the kunoichi ignited her own fire style attack. The two combined and the thin stream of wind was set alight with flames. The heat of the kunoichi's fire release attack is now far more precise and piercing with her comrade's enhancement. The third of the group hesitated as they had planned and waited for his moment. The beast predictably dodged Owl's and Flamingo's flashy attack but his is what they hoped for and their partner Rhino, seeing his chance, released a massive water style attack. The flood of water actually made contact this round and the flying creature was knocked down. The team had gotten this far previously but before the beast would regain its balance and fly off again. This time the prey is now going to act as predator. It is Coyote's turn to deal what will hopefully be the final blow.

"LIGHTINING-STYLE, LIGHTNING ROD." A crack of light connected Coyote and the wind nature heart. The beast's body jerked uncontrollably until Coyote released his jutsu. After the blow it fell from the sky, unable to go on. When it landed onto the ground the monster couldn't keep its body's form. It broke down into a pile of cording with its mask resting on top. The ANBU held back to see if it would regenerate and continue fighting but the heart within is fried. It is done, they had finally killed their target. Owl sighed at the sight.

"Oh thank God- Flamingo, can you fight?" The man in question is huddled over and grabbing his knees for support. But he still gave her a thumbs up.

"-Ok, Rhino? Coyote? I don't think you should continue but what say you?"

"Oh hell no Owl, that thing just about gutted me. *Wheeze* If I keep going, I think my organs may fall out." Coyote rasped. Rhino stood at attention to answer- only to promptly pass out. Owl rolled her concealed eyes and shook her head.

"Fantastic. You two need to stay behind then but you can't be left alone. Flamingo, since you can fight but aren't in the greatest condition either- you should be the one to stay and guard them. I'll go ahead and rejoin the group." 2 nodded while the third continued his slumber. Owl returned the gesture before darting off into the treetops.

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"Something is not right. I'm acting like a paranoid genin…" Kakuzu whispered under his breath.

Hazel had fainted as he predicted and the sense of something approaching is engulfing him. Something… abnormal. He blamed the uneasiness on the shinobi but it somehow feels 'bigger' than them. It's unnerving the seasoned mercenary. He can feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end with tingling goosebumps covering his forearms. His instincts begged him to drop the girl and forget the mission but no way is he abandoning his cash cow. He's in too deep for that and there's no logical reason to. Kakuzu wondered just who could be following them. Who or what can possibly be causing him to panic? He almost NEVER panics. Unbeknownst to him, he's holding the culprit.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE- I. am. STOKED for next chapter…. Just saying.