Summary of Events: The Akatsuki are splitting ways. Hannah, Zetsu, Kakuzu, Itachi, and Tobi are staying in Suna. Leader, Kisame, Kate, Hidan, and Konan are going to Konoha. Dessie, Deidara, Suigetsu, Sakura, and Gai arrived in Wargonia. Kate is working in the medical tents while the others are off at war.

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Death in the Tents

Rule Number Seventy-Seven: Nowhere is safe in a war

Kate

"Kate!"

I rushed over to the bed side where a man was twitching and bleeding all over the place. I avoided looking at him while I handed the medic ninja a bottle of medicine. She took it and force fed it to the patient while I hurried in the opposite direction and tried to avoid the bile rising in my throat.

"Having fun?"

I glanced over to see Shizune standing over a patient. She wiped sweat off her forehead and only succeeded in leaving a long bloody streak. I shuddered and shook my head.

"Am I supposed to enjoy it?" I asked.

"No. If you were I might suspect you do belong in the Akatsuki – if just for strangeness."

I smiled and adverted my eyes from the blood streak. "None of them have turned up here yet…"

"Not yet."

"Good."

"Coming through!"

I jumped out of the way as two medic ninja came in, carrying a wounded shinobi on their shoulders. The injured woman was dripping blood all over the ground and her face was white, the color of chalk as if she was about to faint at any moment. She opened her eyes and blood trickled down in place of tears.

"Fresh air," I gasped before ducking out of the tent and staggering into the open grass.

A slight breeze blew through the camp carrying with it the stench of blood. Was there no escaping it?

"You're still alive?"

I turned around to see a blond haired woman with huge breasts walking towards me. Her expression was grim and a gigantic slug slithered along beside her.

"Tsunade…" I said. "And – um…"

"Katsuyu," said Tsunade. "She's a slug summoning."

"Oh… um… how lovely…" I blinked. "Of all the creatures you could have summoned, you chose a slug?"

Tsunade's mouth twitched slightly as she said, "Yes."

"Heh… Heh…" I edged away from the disgusting slug while trying to keep a smile plastered to my face. I don't think I pulled off the fake very well since Tsunade's forehead crinkled in anger as she realized how repulsed I was.

"Katsuyu is very nice."

"I'm sure she is… if I ever got to know her…" I said.

"Hmm…"

"Shouldn't you be working?" I asked desperately. "And saving your village and all?"

Tsunade smiled and rubbed Katsuyu's head fondly. "Shouldn't you be working and saving the lives of my villagers?"

My face turned bright red and I quickly turned away. "It was a bit… too… bloody for me…"

Tsunade stared at me disbelievingly. After a minute of blank gawping, she coughed and said, "You're afraid of blood, yet you're friends with the Akatsuki and dating one of them… I don't get it."

I sighed. "No one does."

She opened her mouth as if to reply, but closed it, deciding better. "K–"

"!"

We both turned around, our eyes wide with horror. After the scream, a deadly silence filled the air. We waited – for what we didn't know – but we waited for something. And then, when nothing came, Tsunade raced off in the direction of the scream and I quickly followed her.

The scream led us to a smaller medical tent where more extreme cases were taken. Tsunade pushed back the flaps and slipped inside through the entrance. She gasped and before I could step inside, reached a hand out to stop me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Tell Shizune…"

I blinked and ducked back Tsunade to see what had happened. The dead body of a Konoha medic lay on the ground. The legs had been cleanly severed at the shins and there were several stab marks in the face. I covered my mouth and ducked back, wishing I had not had the nerve to see what had happened.

Tsunade gasped again. "Tell Shizune to meet me here. Death…in the tents…"

I nodded and hurried back to find Shizune. I entered the tents again with the dead and the dying. Shizune had not moved, still working away at the bloody leg of the ninja. She caught sight of me and called me over to help, but I shook my head.

"Tsunade needs you."

Shizune blinked in confusion, but she called over another medic, debriefed him on the situation, and then followed me back to the tent where Tsunade and I had found the dead body.

"What happened?" asked Shizune. "What's going on?"

Slowly, Tsunade gestured at the tent behind her and Shizune took a peek inside. "He's dead…"

Tsunade nodded.

"Did the enemy break in?" asked Shizune in horror.

"I don't think so," said Tsunade. "The troops would have sent word if an enemy had snuck inside. Most likely, this foe has been with us sine the beginning…"

A chill ran down my spine and I stared at the grass, trying not to imagine what kind of awful enemies waiting in our camp, trying to kill us all off one-by-one.

"What should we do?" asked Shizune nervously. Tonton appeared by her ankles and Shizune bent over to pick up the pig. She hugged Tonton to her chest and stared at Tsunade worriedly.

"What can we do?" asked Tsunade. "We don't know who the killer is. Wait and watch out for suspicious behavior."

"Should we warn the other medics?" asked Shizune.

After a moment's consideration, Tsuande said, "Not yet. If they start suspecting one another no work will get done. If we conceal this murder it may give us some more time before the next attack."

Shizune hesitated and the nodded. "Alright."

Tsunade's plan didn't last long. The next day the body of a medic ninja was found between two tents with the legs severed and stab marks across the body's face. Word spread all over the camp of a traitor and the medic ninja's grew suspicious of one another. Everyone was suddenly a possible traitor and – being a friend of the Akatsuki – I suddenly became the highest possible suspect.

"It's not me," I whispered to Shizune. "I was there when the first body was discovered…"

"But they don't know that," said Shizune, hiding a smile.

"What are you smiling?" I asked, frustrated. "It's not funny!"

"Actually, it sort of is," said Shizune. "It's amusing that anyone could possibly consider you a murderous spy."

I blinked and then buried my face in my hands. "It's not funny! I can be quite murderous when I want to be!"

This, of course, only made Shizune laugh harder. "I can just see you standing over a mountain of dead and bloody bodies looking very, very frightening… and then you bend over and throw up."

I scowled. "Meanie."

The tent flaps opened and we looked over our shoulders to see who had just entered. Once again it was some shinobi bringing in the recent wounded. However, for once, I found myself gazing upon a familiar face. Those dark eyes and that dark hair… the ghost of a smile… framed by unfamiliar blood streaks

"Sai!"

Though half-opened eyes, Sai looked at me. He smiled and said, "Please don't be my doctor."

"I won't!" I cried. "I don't want you to die!"

A couple medics surrounding Sai and began examining him. I hovered to the side and watched anxiously, waiting for the verdict. However, Shizune called me over to do my job and I spent the next half hour working with her. When I finally managed to find a break, I materialized beside Sai's bed.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked anxiously.

"A deep wound to his organs…"

"He'll live, right?"

The medic hesitated. "We hope."

"If you back off and… give me some breathing room," said Sai helpfully.

I wiped a tear from my eyes and sniffled. "Whatever happened to 'Cutie'?"

However, according to Sai;s wishes (as painful as they may be), I left his bed side and made my way outside for some fresh air. Once again, the stench of blood filled the air. The memory of my last time out here and my meeting with Tsunade flashed through my mind. And the scream…

My heart skipped a beat.

Rule Number Seventy-Seven: Nowhere is safe in war.

What is the murderer found Sai? What if he killed Sai? What would I do? My blood ran cold and I turned back to the tent, fear pumping through my body. I raced inside again, grabbing a surgical needle to protect myself with. The medics had finished with Sai and the only thing left was to give him time to heal. They had moved him to a different, smaller tent for some peace and quiet.

I gripped the surgical needle and, after located his tent, sat down in a chair beside Sai's bed. Momentarily, Sai was sleeping – getting his strength back – and smiled at him and said, "Don't worry, I'll protect you," which is probably the most ludicrous statement I have ever said in my whole life.

I must have sat there with my needle of doom for about three hours… Shizune and the others rushed about outside the tent, working as hard as they could to save the lives of their citizens. I just wanted to save one life… The life of the guy who calls me Cutie… (Insert girlish giggle here).

People rushed around… a splash of blood…

My eyes fluttered and I felt my head leaning over onto Sai's arm… And then my eyes closed… And there was darkness…

When I opened my eyes, I was sitting in the same seat beside the same person holding the same needle. Quickly, I glanced over my shoulder to make sure that Sai was alright. He was still breathing and still fast asleep. I let out a sigh of relief. The tent was empty except for Sai and me and a few other sleeping shinobi. A soft beam of moonlight fell through the gap in the tent flaps and was cast across the floor.

And then there came a soft footfall.

My heart skipped a beat. A shadow fell across the moonlight – a distorted image of some kind of monster.

The murderer was coming.

I gripped my needle and leant my head over so that it might look as though I was asleep.

The footfalls grew faster and there came a rustling noise as the murderer slipped inside the tent.

My heart was pounding. I couldn't believe what an idiot I was – who was I to believe that I could take on a shinobi murderer? And with a surgical needle of all things! Crazy… I'm absolutely crazy.

The murderer grew closer.

I clutched the needle. Well, I should give it a shot.

With a roar, I leapt up from my seat. With needle bared, I prepared to thrust it into the chest of the murderer. But – I froze.

"Where….is he?"

There was no one in the tent. Just me, standing in the moonlight looking like an idiot clutching a needle.

And then there came an 'oink-oink' sound. Slowly, I lowered my gaze to see Tonton standing at my feet, snorting and kicking the ground irritably as if I had surprised her.

"Oh, Tonton!" I cried. I placed the needle on the bed beside Sai and bent down to pick up Tonton and cradle her to my chest. "I'm sorry! I thought you were the murderer who was killing people in the tents! Silly me!"

Tonton oinked indignantly.

"I'm sorry!" I repeated. "I didn't think you were the murderer – I promise."

I let Tonton go and she ran back outside, squealing angrily. I sighed and slumped back down in my seat beside Sai. I picked up the needle and examined it carefully. It was pitiful protection.

Then, I laughed. "Protection against what? Tonton?"