A/N: Uh-oh Spaghetti-Os!


Aika went to her bed that night, troubled. She had a fitful sleep, plagued with dreams of Shinji being snatched from her side into the darkness. They were frightening, and when she awoke next she thought of her conversation the night before.

"I wonder what was wrong with him… it's not like him to ask such terrifying questions." She mused, cupping her chin with one hand. "Usually he likes to reminisce about our days in the palace... wait a minute."

Her eyes widened as she thought of his appearance. His hair looked darker than usual, his nose looked to be a more curved shape, his mouth was thinner, his jaw was more angular, and his eyes were green, not blue - not to mention that he was missing one suddenly.

Her heart sank with dread as she remembered. "Shinji always talked of our future together… whoever this is hasn't spoken of it once! Not to mention his aloof demeanor… I'd thought it was because of trauma from his injury, but that doesn't hold up. And Shinji's eyes are blue! How could I have shrugged that off?"

She jumped out of bed, finding her shoes in a panic. "I need to tell Tsunade! We've been had!"

She rushed out the door, only to see Shikamaru rushing by too. She glanced over at him with a grim look, and he nodded.

As soon as they got to Tsunade's building, they stepped in and Shikamaru called, "Ayame-sama! We have a problem!"

There came a moment of pause before she stepped out of her bedroom, her hair tousled and undone. She rubbed her eyes and frowned at them.

"What's wrong?" She asked urgently. "Are we being attacked?"

"We might be," the boy responded. "Listen, I've been doing an investigation for a while and I believe I've found a possible spy-"

"Ayame-sama! Problem!" A slightly-older man called in panic as he stepped in. "My scouting partner left to use the bathroom about half an hour ago and he hasn't returned! I have a horrible feeling that something bad is going to happen!"

"What?!" She exclaimed, whipping around as Shizune came out too.

"Ayame-sama!" Shikamaru tried again. "We have a spy from the capital in camp-"

All of a sudden, shrieks rang out from outside.

Shikamaru groaned aloud, irritably, as the small group ran outside, only to see one of the women sobbing hysterically over the fallen body of what seemed to be her husband.

"NO! NO!" She screamed as a couple of others tried to pull her from him. "LET ME GO! HE'S ALIVE, I KNOW IT! NO! ICHIGO!"

"C'mon, Hana, we have to get out of here!" One of the ladies urged, turning her terrified gaze to the trees. "We need to get to safety!"

"Just what we needed," Tsunade sighed harshly. "An ambush."

"I'll get the fighters ready," Shizune hastily got out as she rushed away.

Tsunade pulled a hair tie from her wrist and got her hair up into a quick bun. "You two are with me," she ordered. "And you," she pointed to the young man, "Follow Tsubaki."

"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted and tripped over his own feet trying to run.

Aika accepted the other hair tie and tied up her own hair before turning to Shikamaru and firmly nodding.

"Get ready for a fight, kids." Tsunade cracked her knuckles as her seal glowed, lines slowly spreading across her face in straight, intersecting ribbons.


Sakura was roused from her sleep at four-fifteen in the morning by a frantic Shizune calling out to the women. "We're being attacked! All fighters be ready for the return-fire ASAP!"

She immediately leapt from her bed, not bothering with her hair, only putting it in a hasty ponytail and throwing on her body armor.

Ino was following suit, frantically putting up her hair and putting on her sandals and grabbing a pouch of weapons. "Does this happen often?!" She exclaimed.

"No, never!" The rosette replied as she got to her feet. "We never get raided like this."

"Must've gotten the short end of the stick, classy." The blonde sighed harshly as she rushed out with the rest of the women, leaving a few behind to clean up.

Hinata was right behind them, hood thrown up over her head to conceal her identity. "What's happening?! An ambush?"

"Seems like it," Sakura huffed as she looked around.

She spotted Karin among the throng of panicking villagers, trying to herd them towards a safe house, and she relaxed somewhat.

"We need to find Auntie," she told them both. "She'll know what to do."


The first death occurred at four in the morning. The first attack was launched at four-eighteen.

The chaos was a blur between several medical agents trying to get the villagers to safety and the shinobi trying to drive back the horde of attacking shinobi.

Aika punched one in the face, causing them to loosen their grip on their knife. She swiped it and kicked them to the ground, stomping on their head until they fell limp, unconscious.

She whipped her head around, trying to locate someone. When she caught sight of a familiar head of green hair, she opened her mouth to call out, her hand going to her throat as she reached for him.

As the man turned around, his eye met hers, and his guilty face looked away.

Tears burned her eyes as she gripped his shoulder.

"Who-" she forced through her damaged larynx. The pain was unbearable, yet she forced herself to speak still. "Who- are- you?"

The green-haired man looked to her in surprise and hurt, and his lips parted. For a moment he stared at her.

"Wh- ere- is- he?" She rasped next, gripping her scar in agony and gritting her teeth.

For a moment he reached for her throat, but when she flinched, he quickly withdrew. His lips parted and closed several times akin to a fish.

Just when it felt like he would speak, she heard her name being shouted, and a soldier shouted for him. "Igarashi! Quit stalling and get over here!"

"Abe-san!" Hinoki called again, and when she turned away she was grabbed and dragged off.

Aika turned back desperately to the young man, only to see him walking away with a senior officer. He never looked back, even as he tied a Konoha headband over his forehead.

Hot tears bubbled over and blurred her vision as Hinoki dragged her to the rest of the group.


"We need to get out of here, and fast," Tsunade urged as she looked around at the group. Her eyes stopped on Sakura and she added, "We'll need to perform Plan A earlier than planned."

The girl flinched as if burnt, her eyes wide. "So soon?"

"This will be our only shot," the older woman replied grimly. "I'll have to leave some of you here to keep things running smoothly… Shizune, Aika, can I trust you to handle that?"

Shizune nodded sullenly, trying her best to smile. "Yes, of course."

Aika was too despondent to answer, but looked up in resignation.

"Karin, Hinata, you two stay behind as well," she ordered. "You'll have to observe the new recruits and train them up, as well as continue to help the villagers. Who knows that the capital would do if you were discovered so close to the city."

"Yes, ma'am." Karin nodded firmly, and Hinata wordlessly nodded in agreement.

She turned to Ino and Shikamaru, "you two are with me. I know this is your first week, but your skills will prove handy once we get to Konoha… not to mention, your friends are still there."

"R- really?" Ino looked hopeful for a moment before a crestfallen expression shadowed her face and she turned to Hinata. "But we just reunited, and now we have to separate again!"

"Trust me, we can handle it." Karin soothed with a terse smile, patting her shoulder. "Besides, I'm sure at least one of your group has a summon that can exchange letters between us."

Ino looked troubled still. "I… I don't want to leave you again, Hinata…"

"You have to," the girl pleaded, taking her hands tightly. "I'll be safe in the care of Karin and Shizune. We'll see each other again, I swear it."

The blonde's lip trembled and Sakura reached for them both to pull them into a group hug.

Shikamaru found himself dragged into it too, but he didn't complain, his eyes soft as he hugged back.

"I'm sorry we have to split up again so quickly," Sakura murmured with a sigh. "Will you write?"

"Every night that I get a chance to," Hinata responded just as quietly. "Will you?"

"If Forehead doesn't, I will!" Ino declared, squeezing both of them. "I'll miss you…"

"May Kami-sama bring you fortune," Karin uttered as she observed the group grimly.

"And you too," Hinoki said, patting the girl's hair with a soft smile.

Tsunade turned her eyes to her niece, and without another word took her close. As she hugged her, she gently kissed the dark-haired woman's forehead before letting go and patting her on the shoulder.

"Alright. Now that we've gotten the plan, Shizune, Karin, Hinata, Aika, you take your group and get the others to safety," Tsunade ordered. "Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, Hinoki, you're with me. Let's go!"


A/N: Next chapter will be pretty choppy, given the sheer amount of action going on all at once.

Please tell me what you thought!