Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 63: On Mark, Set, Go

Intel kept pouring into the village and it was difficult to go through everything in detail. Konohagakure was lucky that they had many brains that could go through of the information that was given to them. They would then summarize everything and hand the information to Shikaku who would figure out the best way to fight the enemy. Although Yuki was well aware of his intelligence, she couldn't help but be impressed by Shikamaru's father.

Eventually, every fighting shinobi was to travel to the Land of Lightning where the operation base of the alliance was located. The warriors began bidding their farewell to their families as they were unsure whether they would return to see them once again. There was no fear in their heart, only pride and hope. They knew what they had to do. There was no other option, therefore, there was no fear.

Konohamaru was saying goodbye to Yuki. He was tearing up, but he kept all his tears in as he knew this wasn't the time to be weak. Yuki gave him a long hug and told him:

"I promised you I wouldn't leave you, remember? So don't you worry." She said.

"Yuki-niichan, just be careful." Konohamaru said as he was sniffling.

"I will. And you, you protect this village for me while we are gone. Especially Mirai and Kurenai... They are our only family left." Yuki reminded him.

He nodded as he wiped away whatever tears were left in the corner of his eyes. She patted his head one last time before walking towards Neji who was saying goodbye to Hanabi and the rest of the kids from his clan. Hanabi sneaked behind Yuki and gave her a hug while whispering to her:

"You need to come back and join our family soon..."

Yuki chuckled and turned towards her, smiling. Neji seemed to have heard Hanabi's comment and blushed as he looked away. He then grabbed Yuki by the wrist and pulled her away from the crowd. He looked at her in the eyes and hesitated saying something.

"I guess we also should say our farewell..." Yuki started instead as she could tell he didn't know how to bring it up.

"I guess." He repeated.

He then pulled her in closer and gave her a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back tightly. As they savored the last few seconds of peace they had together, Yuki then heard a voice telling her:

"Yuki, they are in trouble on the island where Naruto is."

It was Inoichi from the headquarters letting her know of any trouble stirring up. Yuki wanted to ignore her responsibilities at that very moment but she knew she couldn't. She pushed Neji slowly away and told him reluctantly:

"Duty calls."

"Already?" He asked, saddened by the fact that their little moment got cut short.

He let her go, knowing that this was no longer the time to hold on to her. They weren't fools. They knew what was at stake. They knew She simply nodded and turned her back to him before trying to communicate with Inoichi again.

"Sorry." He told her. "It's just that the Akatsuki are now attacking where Bee and Naruto are hidden right now. One of them was hiding within the Samehada that Bee now carries and he managed to deliver their location to the Akatsuki."

"Kisame?" Yuki then asked surprised as she thought he was dead a little while back.

"To be exact, one of his shark delivered the message as he is now dead." Inoichi explained. "Right now, Kabuto and Deidara are attacking them. Yamato is having some difficulty fending them off by himself..."

Before he could finish, Yuki flashed herself to Yamato. She was greeted with Deidara's bombs. She dodged them all and headed to where Yamato was as she sighed.

"So that's one of those reincarnation thing, right?" She asked.

"Yeah. We landed an attack earlier on him, but he just repairs himself almost spontaneously." Yamato told her.

"The only way to get him is to seal him." Yuki explained. "I didn't realize they kept their original abilities though. Plus, I'm guessing they don't have to infuse chakra, therefore they won't ever be exhausted, right?"

"That is fair to assume." Yamato said as they separated to not get bombed by Deidara.

As she moved further away, she, then, sensed another chakra appearing. As she looked around to search for the source of chakra that she had just sensed, a large purple snake appeared from the sky and almost landed on her. Yuki barely managed to get herself out of area in time. It looked like Manda, but Yuki knew it couldn't be as Manda was rumored to have died. This one was also much larger than the snake she remembered to have heard and read about. On his head, she noticed a small hooded figure. She focused enough to tell that it was emitting Orochimaru's chakra. Again, she knew it couldn't have been Orochimaru as he was confirmed dead.

"Kabuto!" Yuki said as she assumed the only other person who could possibly have Orochimaru's chakra was someone who was close enough to him to gather his cells and mutate himself into Orochimaru.

He pulled down his hood and grinned at Yuki. He was seemingly impressed that she recognized him despite the changes he had undergone.

"I must say, Yuki-san, I'm constantly surprised at how smart and strong you are."

"I heard rumors that you had become a monster. Now that I can see you myself, I must admit that those rumors weren't wrong."

"I thought you were more open-minded than that." Kabuto responded as he started moving his neck in a snake like manner. "I thought you would at least appreciate my growth."

Before she could respond to him, the snake attacked her and she moved out of the way again. She closed her eyes for a second and unleashed her sharingan as she believed it was the best way to cause the least disturbances while being able to control the creature that was in front of her. Kabuto didn't stay longer to chat with her. Instead, he was heading towards Yamato. Yuki placed herself in a manner that the snake would look straight into her eyes. She then put it under a genjutsu. It stopped moving and collapsed onto the ground as it began snoring. She quickly headed over to where Yamato was only to realize in horror that Kabuto was now swallowing him up. Wriggling away from them, Kabuto managed to escape into the large sleeping snake and they both disappeared as he had reversed summon themselves to some unknown area. Deidara had also disappeared.

"Damn it..." Yuki mumbled.

She tried to teleport herself to Yamato as she knew he carried an item with her seal on it, but as she did, she was teleported to the exact spot where he was eaten by Kabuto. She picked up the kunai that had her seal on it from the ground and put it into her bag. Kabuto probably knew and, in that short instance, got rid of any extra belongings that Yamato had on him. She bit her lip in frustration. She knew Yamato wouldn't reveal anything himself to the Akatsuki, but they certainly could extract information from him against his will. She was certain they had that kind of ability. The other thing that bothered her was the fact that Kabuto went straight for Yamato. His target was obviously her senpai. She didn't know why that was the case. That thought scared her even more so than the fact that they would now gain intel on the Alliance. As she pondered about those things, some others had now joined them on the island.

"Tsuchikage-sama." Aoba greeted the newcomers.

"You sound defeated." Onoki said as he landed gracefully.

"They kidnapped one of ours." Aoba explained.

"They sent you here and yet you were really not of much help." The Tsuchikage then said to Yuki who still hadn't greeted him.

"Tsuchikage-sama..." Motoi, the guardian of the island, began. "If not for her..."

"At least I was here on time to prevent any casualties before the war even started." Yuki replied dryly.

Despite them being an alliance, she still had a hard time communicating with the Tsuchikage. It was his condescending manners that bothered her. He, on the other hand, didn't like how confident a young ninja like her acted. He didn't believe she had the experience nor the wisdom to do well during this war. He believed she was a fraud and somehow managed to convince the other Kages of her abilities. He couldn't accept that such a young human being could have so much power and that she could use them appropriately. His granddaughter, unlike him, loved Yuki's personality. Kurotsuchi, her given name, was also very confident and believed that her grandfather, too often, didn't give the young ones enough credits. She looked at Yuki with a smile and nodded at her as to acknowledge her work there, on the island.

"I'm guessing you are here to move the island to somewhere else." Yuki said.

"Watch you tone, kid." The Tsuchikage scolded her. "But yes, you are right. So, if you would, please take yourself off this island since you are no longer needed here..."

Yuki didn't wait for him to finish and flashed herself to the operation base.

She arrived right beside Shikaku and gave him a quick rundown of what had happened on the island. She warned him that all the knowledge Yamato had about the Alliance was now, most certainly than not, in the hands of the Akatsuki. Shikaku reassured her that they knew it would happen sooner or later since they could have captured any of them during the battle. Perhaps it happened a little earlier than anticipated, but they already knew it was bound to happen. He then handed her the forehead protector with the word Shinobi engraved onto it. She took it from him and thanked him. She looked at it for a while. She never thought that one day all shinobis would share the same forehead protector. It made her happy to think of the Alliance, but it also scared her. It reminded her that the danger that lurked ahead of them was much bigger than anything the world had ever known before.

She tied the headband to her belt and made sure it was tight enough so that it wouldn't fall during the war. She walked over to the window where she could see all the shinobis assembling together as they all got their forehead protectors as well. They stood in lines where their division was.

"Yuki, you are here." She heard a familiar voice call for her.

She turned around and spotted Kakashi with the rest of the division commanders. She walked over to them with a hesitant smile. She was beginning to feel more and more nervous about the war. Kakashi could tell that she was. He placed his hand on her shoulder as to calm her down. She took a deep breath and greeted him and the rest of them before explaining to them:

"As you probably have heard, I'll be the first backup provided in case something happens during the war. I can teleport myself to any location with my seal marker present. Kakashi and Gaara already have my seal on them. To ensure that I can come and assist everyone quickly, I'll also place my seal on you and a few people from your division... if that's okay with you, of course..."

"As long as you are not recklessly jumping from one battlefield to the other, I'm okay with this plan." Darui said as he gave his wrist to her to place her seal on.

The remaining two commanders followed. As she finished placing her seal on all of them, Yuki glanced over to where the crowd was gathering once again. Kakashi gave her a quick nod and she flashed herself down there with his approval. She had to mark others as well to ensure that she could be as close as possible to any potential dangers. She, first, headed over to Sakura who was right next to Lee.

"Show me your wrists, both of you." She said. "I'll put my seal on you. If you need anything, just send your chakra through the seal and I'll be able to come and help you out."

"Don't overdo it." Sakura warned her as she showed her wrist to Yuki.

"Yes, Yuki-san!" Lee reiterated. "Stay safe!"

"I promise." Yuki said as she waved goodbye to the two of them, making her way into the second division.

She quickly spotted Neji who was standing next to Hinata and Karui. She made her way there as Hinata spotted her and smiled at her. She marked Hinata's wrist with her seal and looked over at Neji.

"You both made it here quick." She said as she felt like they were just in Konohagakure a few moments ago.

"I couldn't wait to see you again." Neji teased her.

Yuki smiled. Their time together had to be cut short again as she still had a lot to do before the war started, which was only hours away now. She gave him a short but sweet kiss on the cheek before slipping away from him. He sighed. It was still better than nothing to be able to see her and feel her before the war actually started.

Karui had now moved away from them as she didn't feel like she should be there. Yuki went after her and called her out. She stopped moving away but didn't turn towards Yuki just yet. She wasn't too sure how to feel about Yuki at that moment. Their last encounter wasn't exactly good. However, personally, she no longer had hard feelings towards Yuki. She simply didn't know how to interact with her former friend.

"Karui, let me place my seal on your wrist. If you are in any danger, just send your chakra through the seal and I'll be right over if possible." Yuki said as she caught up.

Karui bit her lip as she felt her eyes filling up with tears. It had to mean that Yuki still cared for her like a friend, like a sister. Yet, Karui felt like she was constantly blaming Yuki for her betrayal a few years ago. As Yuki got close enough, Karui turned around and gave her a hug.

"Stay safe." She simply said.

Yuki smiled as she grabbed Karui's wrist and placed her seal on it.

"I'm truly sorry. Let's talk more after this war."

"We have to, that is if we can..." Karui said.

"It's unlike you to doubt yourself." Yuki replied with a smile as she let go of Karui's arm.

"Can't help it during these times..."

"True. Stay safe." Yuki said as she now walked over to the First Division.

Tenten was the first one that she spotted in that Division. She quickly made her way through the crowd to her long time friend. They didn't get the chance to interact with each other a lot since Yuki returned to the village, but whenever they were together, it felt like they were never apart from each other. Tenten looked nervous. Yuki tapped her lightly on the shoulder and placed her seal there in the process.

"Nervous?" She asked Tenten.

"Aren't you feeling it too?" Tenten asked.

"Very." Yuki replied with a sigh. "This is something none of us thought we would live to see in our lifetime, you know..."

"I can't help but to think back to the days we would be training together in the forest. They seemed so far away, yet so close."

"We will have those days again. Let's believe in it together." Yuki said despite sharing Tenten's fear.

Tenten smiled and nodded. They gave each other one last hug before bidding their farewell as Yuki reminded her to call for her help at any point during the war. Tenten then reminded Yuki that she had to live and stay safe as there were many things waiting for her at home after the war. Yuki waved goodbye as she made her way to the Fourth Division. She spotted Shikamaru's spiky ponytail from afar. He was, after all, taller than most and his hair just gave him an extra inch.

"Wrist." She simply said as she got closer to him and met eyes with him.

"Still as bossy as ever..." He mumbled as he showed her his wrist.

She placed her seal on him as he was yawning without covering his mouth.

"I know we are good friends, but would you mind?" Yuki scolded him jokingly.

Shikamaru smiled at her comment. He felt reassured that she could still joke around with him at this time. Choji joined them as he now had just gotten his forehead protector. Yuki also told him to give her his wrist and placed her seal on him.

"Don't overdo it, alright?" Shikamaru reminded her. "If you are tired, just let people know that you are. Don't push yourself too hard. I don't think we could deal with the thought of having pushed you to your limits."

"Don't worry about me. You should worry about yourself."

"You know I would never try too hard."

"You can be certain of that." A familiar voice said.

"Good timing, Temari. Wrist, please?" Yuki said as she saw the kunoichi walk over to them.

"Gaara told me you were going around placing your seal on different people so that you could assist anyone who would be in trouble. Who is going to assist you when you need help?" Temari asked as she showed Yuki her wrist.

"I'll just bring the trouble to one of you guys." Yuki replied with a smile. "That shouldn't happen though, since I'm always going to be on the move. So remember, any trouble, just send some chakra into the seal and I'll be notified that help is needed."

"And you are off again?" Shikamaru asked her as she started walking away from them.

She simply waved goodbye silently as she disappeared into the crowd. As she made her way into the Fifth Division, she was found by Akamaru who was now making circles around her. He seemed to be happy to have found a familiar face among the crowd. Kiba quickly arrived as well, followed by Ino and Shino.

"Taichou!" Kiba teased her as he knew how much she hated them calling her that title.

"Call me that again and I'll ignore any call for help from you." Yuki said as she placed her seal on him.

"You wouldn't be able to ignore Akamaru, though."

"Ha, you got me there." She said as she patted the white dog gently.

"Promise me you'll stay safe." Shino said. "I'm only requesting such a promise because I know how reckless you can be as we have worked together as a team multiple times now."

"I will." She replied as she finished placing her seal on both him and Ino. "You all have to stay safe as well. You will be moved around a lot as you are also a support division, so be careful during the movements."

"We will have each other's back!" Ino reassured her.

They then heard the Raikage asking everyone to line up properly and the commanders to be in position so that they could announce the beginning of the war. Yuki waved goodbye to the three of them as she made her way to the front where she had to meet up with the Surprise Attack Team. She was to join them until the war was full blown. As she walked through the crowd, she couldn't help but hear expression of discontent about working with shinobis of different villages. She had thought that people didn't mind having to collaborate with other villages for the sake of the war. She only realized then that many still held grudges for different reason. She began questioning whether the Alliance was going to hold. She telepathically communicated with Inoichi, letting him know of the situation down there. He acknowledged the fact that hard feelings were present among the crowd. He quickly relayed the message to the Kages. From where she was, she could tell that Tsunade was unhappy with the news. She believed that they should all just shut their mouths and work together just this one time as it could be their last.

As she was close to the front now, Yuki saw people grabbing onto each other's collar, ready to fight each other despite being allies. Instead of walking over to her team, she walked towards a Konohagakure shinobi and a Sunagakure shinobi and pulled them apart from each other. She looked up as Gaara gave her a nod as a sign of a thank you for intervening. His sand made his way through the crowd and stopped other fights from happening. He, then, took a deep breath and began talking to the crowd:

"I, too, was once consumed by hatred. However, I met this shinobi from Konohagakure who shed tears for me despite the fact that I was an enemy. Why? Because we were affected by the same pain, the pain of being alone, the pain of being a Jinchuriki. When we can understand each other's pain, we can unite as one. We have all been affected by the Akatsuki one way or another. Because of that fact, we are all one. In this moment in time, we are all just shinobis, fighting for our tomorrow, fighting to protect what is precious to us. As your commander and as the Kazekage, if there are still hard feelings towards Sunagakure or any other villages, I'll give you my head once this war ends."

Cheering was heard and apologies were said. Yuki smiled as the two shinobis she held off earlier now were shaking hands with each other. She let go and made her way to the Surprise Attack Team. They were to head out as soon as the order to start moving was given. She placed her seal on each other them upon her arrival. Sai drew out a few birds for them to ride. She was to share one with him. As they both climbed onto the painted bird, it slowly took off with the rest of them. Kankuro was leading the flock. They rose high up in the sky to the point where everybody on the ground looked like tiny ants. The war had officially started.

End of Chapter 63

And so it begins: the beginning of the end.

There are still many chapters to come, but I guess we could say that we are about to conclude.

Thank you for reading everything so far!

Let me know what you look forward to in the next few chapters!

xox

Krystal