A/N: MAJOR CONTENT WARNING: Like I stated last chapter, this one contains a good amount of violence, blood and gore. PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION. If you absolutely cannot handle anything I've warned you of, I'll provide a TLDR at the beginning of tomorrow's chapter highlighting only the most important events.


So far, the day had been tense.

True to her word, Aika had confided in Shizune her fears for the village that morning, and due to that the entire village was on lockdown. Mimei members were busy trying to fortify the gates, civilians were getting ready to head into the bunkers in case of another occupation of the area, and Shizune was freaking out herself. She'd already sent a letter to Tsunade, courtesy of someone's avian summon, and they had yet to hear back from them.

Daitan had been running about all day, directing crews to this and that. To her relief, Hideki stuck to her side through most of it, helping soothe her nerves and assisting in whatever she needed. The boy showed a surprising tenacity in the face of panic, a refreshing breath of air in a stagnating cloud of anxiety and uncertainty.

All morning long, the village went about their tasks with bated breath, glancing over each shoulder and double-checking each shadow.

Nobody wanted to vocalize it, but everybody was just waiting for something to happen.

Lunch was tense, and dinner was a little more relaxed - a few of the young men and women started telling funny stories about things that had happened in their own lives to brighten the mood, and it got people laughing before long.

The air was still off, but luckily with some levity people were able to forget their fears for the evening long enough to get things done. The barricades were nearly finished and guards had been selected to patrol the walls at all hours of the night.

Things seemed to look up just a bit. Aika stole a glance at Shizune and smiled faintly, hoping her worries were unfounded.


As the moon rose above the camp, its dim light shone ominously in the darkening sky. Shadows crept close to the site, clinging to the walls and trees and casting an ominous darkness across the cobble.

Hideki shivered, rubbing his arms. Something felt off, but he couldn't place it. When he'd gone to relieve the night watchman from his duties, he'd been nowhere to be found, strangely enough. Hideki had taken his spot with trepidation, and the paranoia hadn't worn off even an hour into his shift.

When Daitan emerged from the women's building, he ran to her, abandoning his post, clasping her hands in his in a sudden boldness.

"Daitan, I feel like something bad is going to happen," he explained, looking around in concern. "Please promise me you'll sleep with your guard up tonight."

"What's going on with you?" She asked, squeezing his hands. "Do we need to tell Boruda?"

"Yes, please, we need to tell everyone." He nodded rapidly. "The night watchman was gone when I arrived- I don't know why, but I feel like we're going to be attacked. Please, please tell Mato."

"If you say so." She nodded, her jovial mood dissipating at the wary look on his face.

He was about to say something else, but then his eyes widened as he looked past her. "Look out-!"

"Wha-" She could hardly react in time before she was falling to the ground beside him.

He shoved her out of the way, leaving his front wide open. When she tumbled to the ground she heard a dull thwack and a shaky gasp, and when she looked up she realized, horrified, that Hideki had a kunai impaled through his throat. He let out a gurgled moan before falling to the ground. His skull connected with a sickening crack on the stones, and the knife was shoved a little further in, making him cry out, gripping his throat.

"HIDEKI!" She screamed, attracting the attention of others. Several civilian women rushed over and a few realized what was happening.

"We're under attack!" A man cried as more kunai began slicing through the air. It severed the poor victim's neck and sent him sprawling to the ground, his head rolling along the dirt hanging from a fraction of his neck. His blood began to spray across the cobblestones of the road as his body fell, painting the road a gory warning.

There was a stunned silence for a second before the remaining civilians began shrieking and scattering. The man's teenage son let out a horrible scream, tears burning his eyes as he lunged for his body, cradling it to his chest as the blood soaked through his shirt and stuck to his skin. The next moment, another kunai struck him in the back of the neck, making him choke out a yell of pain before he slumped forward, hacking a spray of blood.


Hinata panted for breath, hood obscuring her identity as she made her way through the chaos.

It seemed that Aika's fears had been warranted, and as she grimly surveyed the gore she finally caught sight of the one she was searching for.

"You!" She shouted, anger coursing through her heart as the cloaked figure turned.

"Oh?" A soft voice answered, one that made her stomach churn with realization. "What's this…?"

No.

She should have realized when the fire started. She should have realized that she of all people wouldn't be above sneak attacks.

Her heart ached as she stared down the cloaked woman - no doubt Uchiha Mikoto from the lily embroidered on the inside of the hood.

"I won't let you hurt anyone else," the girl spoke as bravely as she could, getting into a fighting stance.

To her surprise, the White Lily chuckled amusedly. "A Hyuuga? All the way out here, no less? What are you doing so far from home, young one?"

"Serving my country," she spoke coldly. "I could ask the same of you."

"Ah, I suppose I am the same then," she replied genially, yet her aura radiated danger as she grabbed a senbon from her sleeve. "So sorry to do this, but I have a mission and I cannot have anyone in my way."

"We'll see," Hinata responded before ducking to dodge the (presumably poisoned) senbon flying towards her cheek.


"SATO!" Karin exclaimed in horror as she and a few medic-nin raced to the two.

Daitan fought back tears and held Hideki in her arms as he bled, his eyelids fluttering slightly.

"Hideki, please, hold on," she begged. "We're getting you help, just hold on-"

"I think-" he weakly coughed, "- I think it pierced through my artery-"

"Don't speak, save your energy." She ordered hysterically, hoisting him up into her arms as the others began looking over the knife. Her breath hitched in a sob, even though her voice was stern. "You're going to be okay."

"No I... w-won't," he grinned despite his wound. He paused to cough, and the movement caused the kunai knife to jostle, making him cry out. Blood dribbled down his lips and stained his grit teeth a gory scarlet, making those around him cringe. One of the mothers dabbed at his bloody forehead with a wet cloth, cleaning out the wound the best she could. He whimpered, flinching away from it, but she held his chin tightly and finished, leaving a stretching laceration across his pale skin.

"Hold on!" Daitan begged, her eyes prickling with tears. "What about your dream? Your dream, remember? About having a family?"

"I wanted... a family..." he mumbled dazedly. His eyes were becoming unfocused as the wound began spilling in big droplets down his neck.

"He's not going to survive this," one of the medics muttered into the redhead's ear as the group relocated to the women's building. "If he keeps coughing it's going to widen the wound. We're going to need to take out the blade."

"But that will kill him for sure!" Karin hissed back, her ruby eyes wide and desperate. "Please, let me- I- I can do something! I'm a healer!"

She solemnly shook her head. "There's not much we can do. We don't know how many attackers have surrounded the village."

She groaned loudly, desperation in her voice.

"Dai-chan," Hideki whispered, cupping his girlfriend's cheek. "It's okay."

"No, it's not okay!" She cried out, hot tears trickling down her cheek. She tried to ignore the way his blood stained her skin from where he'd previously hacked blood into his hand. "You just turned sixteen, and- and we just decided to give this a try! They can't take you away from me now!"

"Perhaps I was... never destined..." he paused to cough into his fist again. "... for love..."

"Don't say something like that. Nobody should be kept from love!" Her voice cracked when she spoke. "I don't know whether to call you brave or stupid! Why did you take the hit for me?"

"I love you." He licked his teeth and smiled weakly. "You are destined... for greatness."

"But so are you," she whispered brokenly, her thumb tracing his pale cheek.

"Karin," one of the women warned.

"I know ," she snapped, sending a sharp glance over her shoulder. She looked at the knife, a nauseous feeling rising in her stomach.

"Just pull it out," Hideki ordered. "I'll be- f- fine."

Aika came out of her hiding place to worriedly gape at the scene, Aoi with an arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. They both heard the civilians screaming outside, the other nin shouting.

A dull thud against the side of the house made them look over. Aika peeked over and realized that someone had thrown a flaming torch at the wall, and the flames were licking the ground around them.

Alarmed, she turned and breathed out a silent facsimile of, "Fire danger! Get out!"

"What?" Aoi asked, urgently turning to the window. "What?"

"Fire!" Aika mouthed again, signing with shaky hands, " (Someone threw a flaming torch against the side of the building!) "

"Fire…" Aoi repeated quietly. Then they startled in realization, shouting, "Fire!"

"We need to treat him first," one of the women snapped at them. "Is there somewhere else we can go?"

"There's a bunker underneath the building," Daitan said faintly. "We used to use it for storage. I think there's some bedding down there."

The oldest, a woman in her early fifties, nodded. "First, find me a handcloth. If we're going to do it, we need to do it now before he chokes to death on his own blood."

Aika sent Aoi a panicked glance before they let her go and she went to the ladder. She returned a short minute later holding a clean, white cloth.

Karin thanked her and pressed it tightly to Hideki's skin.

"This is going to hurt like a bitch," she warned the boy. "You need something to bite on?"

"No, I'll be fine." He almost shook his head, but one of the mothers grabbed his chin to keep him still.

"You're gonna want something," she warned. "Are you absolutely certain?"

"Please, just do it," he weakly grit his teeth together, wincing in pain.

"Okay. On three." Karin nodded. "One. Two."

She ripped it out as cleanly as she could, and Hideki's agonized shriek ripped through his damaged throat and rang through the entire building. Daitan let out an involuntary sob at the hideous sound. It pierced through her chest and sent her tipping to the side, emptying her stomach into an empty pail that one of the girls hastily shoved her way.

The cloth was hastily pressed to the wound before it could begin gushing.

"Karin, can you heal him?" A pretty blonde teenager asked. Her big, watery green eyes stared at her hopelessly.

"I could try," she said numbly. "But I don't know if I'll be able to save him. I was never fully trained in the arts. Medical ninjutsu isn't my strongest point; I'm foremost a sensor. I don't think the Mystical Palm Technique can save his life..."

"Dammit," the girl swore.

"Where are the others?" The elder asked.

"Helping the other civilians," the silvery-haired young woman replied, shifting her eyes to the window. "Most of the shinobi are out of the village right now securing supplies, though."

"You don't-" Hideki gurgled.

"Don't speak," she urged, her voice cracking. "Please- don't speak."

He nodded weakly, watching in despair as the cloth began rapidly turning a bright scarlet red.

Karin pressed tightly to his throat until he wheezed in pain and clenched his fist, his fingers twisting into the flimsy fabric of his tank top.

"Sorry," she apologized, letting up a tiny bit. She tried to call to mind any lessons she had in repairing the carotid, but all she could think of was mending one of the veins in Sakura's hand. No arteries.

Giving him an apologetic grimace, she called forth medical chakra and held it to his throat.

He weakly gurgled as she tried to find the source of the damage. His carotid was definitely severed, an amazing feat when she glanced down at the little knife, but other than that, it had barely scraped by anything else important. He was rapidly bleeding though, and he would die soon if she couldn't fix it.

She tried her best to fix the wound, trying to sew together the artery as her patient rested with his eyes half-lidded and in a confused haze, but right as she stitched the last bit together, he coughed violently and it abruptly tore. Blood spewed from his mouth, staining the dingy dress of the teenager beside her and splattering the redhead's face.

She ignored the horrified shriek in her ear and the warm blood dribbling down her forehead, forced down the rising vomit in her throat at the stench, grit her teeth and sewed it back together, pausing for a few moments for anything to happen. When she was satisfied that it was safe, she heaved a shaky sigh and gently squeezed Hideki's limp hand.

"He's lost a lot of blood," she commented, grimacing at his fist. The blood was already drying into disgusting ruby flakes on his pale skin.

"You've done all you can," the elder replied, patting her on the back. "We'll need to keep watch through the night."

Daitan nodded, gazing into his glassy eyes. The fire began to spread behind her to the wall, but she hardly cared.

"We need to leave," Aika wheezed. She gripped her throat in pain, but willed more air past her damaged larynx. "Fire. Now."

"Don't speak," Aoi pleaded, reaching to grab her hand. "Please."

"We'll need to take shelter in the basement tonight." Another woman, Harako, noted with steely navy eyes as she observed the crackling flames licking at the wall near the window. She looked to Daitan with a soft, pitying gaze, "You, go and prepare a place for the boy. I have a feeling that he's got a long and difficult road ahead of him."

The girl nodded shakily, grimacing at the splotches on the dress when she shifted, revealing more of the fabric to be stained. She seemed hesitant to leave her boyfriend, but when he gave her a tired, reassuring smile, she swallowed her protests and nodded. She hurried off into the darkness, tears trickling down her face.

"Hideki..." Karin gently poked his cheek. "Are you awake?"

The boy's eyes lazily shifted over to meet hers, but he said nothing for a few seconds. A weak, encouraging smile tugged at his lips.

"Live," he mouthed. "Tell Dai-chan that… I..."

Then his eyes rolled back into his head and his lips parted, and he fell unconscious.

The tears in Karin's eyes finally dribbled down her cheeks when she let out an anguished cry, the flames beginning to grow louder as they crept up the walls. She hardly felt Aika's soothing arms around her as the civilian women took Hideki from her and moved him past, into the basement.

"He's weak," Harako announced. "But with some luck, and perhaps a blood transfusion, he'll live. Does anyone know what type he is?"

"A," another replied. "I recall him speaking about it the other day. Remember when he scraped his knee badly enough to need stitches?"

"Oh, I remember," the woman chuckled fondly, stroking her fingers through Karin's thin fiery tresses, dotted with his blood. Without a hair tie to hold it back, they fell about her face and neck in a way that, now, highlighted her youth and contrasted greatly against her now-paler skin. "We'll need to prepare someone to donate. Who here has A?"

"I do," Daitan spoke before anyone could react, her hollow voice making the older ladies turn to her with sympathetic frowns. "I- I can do it."

When Karin moved to get up to help, the blade clattered to the ground, the blade streaked with ribbons of blood. His blood.

She gingerly picked it up and turned it over in her hands. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar symbol on the back of the blade, and Aika sucked in a stunned breath. Aoi could only muster a choked gasp.

"A lily..." Karin mumbled, looking up with horrified eyes at the window. Already, most of the homes in the village were going up in flames. The mangled corpses of the citizens littered the center, their blood seeping into the stones like paint.

Men, women, children. All dead and dying. All within the span of half an hour. All because of one .

"We've... we've been attacked by the White Lily of Death...!" She whispered, her face blanched with a fearful pallor. She looked up to meet Aoi's stunned gaze, only for them to slowly shake their head.

"We're lucky to be alive," they weakly replied. "She… she allowed us to live. I don't know why, but…"

Aika heaved a soundless sob and collapsed into their arms.


From beyond the expanse of trees, Tsunade watched, with Jiraiya's arms about her, both mourning silently as they watched the plume of thick, black smoke rising from the direction of Morino, hanging above the trees like an ominous wraith. Shizune's letter was gripped tightly in her fingers, a summon sent long before with a harried reply… a reply that would be too late.

The blonde clenched her jaw, squeezing her eyes shut as Jiraiya looked away solemnly.

"Your premonition was right," she angrily muttered, gripping the front of his jacket. "And now... we're too late. I never should have left her there with them. I should have known the royal army would strike again."

"I'll be heading that way tomorrow morning to erect a shrine for the deceased," he murmured into her ear, comfortingly stroking along her back. "I'll bring back any survivors I might find."

"Please do." She agreed, opening her watery eyes to stare at the rising flames. Her men had to be okay. Shizune had to be okay. "I've surely lost another love tonight."

She heaved a ragged sigh, craning her neck to gaze tiredly up at him. "I need a drink."


Sakura watched the plume above the trees with dread rising in her heart, something not even Sasuke or Naruto could soothe as they stood beside her. Naruto's hand squeezed hers in comfort, but her nerves couldn't be calmed. Sasuke's hand on her shoulder was an anxious weight that sank her stomach to the bottom of her belly.

"I hope Mother is alright," Sasuke commented quietly, his face twisted in fear.

Silently, Sakura glanced to her left to see Naruto's grim gaze lock on hers.

He nodded his head and her worried frown deepened, just in time for him to gather them both into a three-way embrace with their backs to the window.


A/N: For those of you still reading, I hope you managed to enjoy. Please tell me what you thought.