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 67: The Last Peaceful Moments

He was now right in front of her with his Byakugan activated as he was on surveillance duty at that time. His eyes became softer. Her face was hidden by the shadows of the trees in the night. She slowly took a few steps towards him. The moonlight revealed the exhaustion on her face. He quickly rushed over to her as Kiba, who was also present, moved elsewhere as to give them a little bit of privacy. He was tactful in moments like these.

Neji took her into his arms as she hugged him back around the waist. She felt so tired. She was completely drained. She wasn't tired physically. She could still fight. She probably could still fight for a few more days. She was emotionally and mentally drained. Her eyes kept filling up with tears without much reason. In reality, they filled up with tears for too many reasons to count. He knew there was nothing much he could say to her. He just had to be there for her at that moment as a shoulder to cry on. She wouldn't cry despite the teary eyes. She was able to hold it all in, at least, for the time being. She just wanted to rest by his side as tomorrow was growing to be more and more uncertain. They stood there for a little while longer.

"How are you doing by the way?" She finally asked him as she pulled away.

"I should be asking you that." He replied.

"It's been a long day and it's not like we can rest right now either." She said as she lied down onto the grass and looked up towards the moon. "Any time now, I'm going to have to leave again."

He sat down next to her and looked towards the moon as well. He sighed. She wasn't wrong. It had been a long day. Usually, those days came to an end, but it wasn't going to be the case. There was an uncertainty lurking around them. Nobody knew why the enemy retreated. They just had to assumed it was for the worst. Because of it, they were on high alert. Peaceful time like this was rare and had to be cherished. They stayed side by side silently. Yuki had now closed her eyes as tears came streaming down her face. She tried so hard to hold it in all day. It was only in front of him that she could allow herself to be so vulnerable. It pained him to see her crying, but he knew that she only wanted him to be there. He grabbed onto her hand to stop her from shaking so much as she kept crying. It did help her. Her breathing became more steady with his touch. As she began to calm down, she heard Inoichi's voice.

"Yuki, I'm sorry. We have a situation. Actually two. Naruto and Bee have just escaped from the island and are heading to the battle front. Tsunade-sama and the Raikage are on their way to stop them."

"I figured that was going to happen." Yuki replied as she sat up and wiped away her tears.

"Second issue is that the medical headquarter had two of their jounins medics killed just now. If you could just head over there..."

She kissed Neji on the cheek quickly and vanished. He wasn't even given the time to tell her goodbye. He sighed as he re-engaged his byakugan, knowing that the night was going to be just as long as the day had been.

"Sakura!" Yuki said as she appeared in Sakura's tent at the Medical and Logistical base camp.

"Sit down. Let me heal you while we talk." Sakura told her as she began washing her hands.

"I'm not injured..." Yuki said.

"Sure. You fought all day, went to who knows how many battlefields and you tell me that you are unscathed?" Sakura asked sarcastically. "Just sit down."

Yuki frowned as she reluctantly took a sit. She wasn't unscathed, but the injuries were nothing to be worried about. She had been through much worst. She figured that she would at least let Sakura check since she wasn't usually one to be happy about someone disagreeing with her.

"So what's been going on?" Yuki asked as Sakura began healing the superficial cuts on Yuki's body.

"Someone infiltrated the camp. We are currently on lock down to find that person." Sakura explained. "We knew that the only person we could call for help was you since you had placed a seal on me and there would be no doubt that you would be you, I guess."

As she finished saying those words, someone entered their tent. Yuki raised her eyebrow at the sight of the person standing in front of them.

"Neji." Sakura said as she welcomed him in. "I forgot to tell you that..."

Before Sakura could finish, Yuki blasted him out with a lightning blade. Sakura looked at her in shock before realizing that he had now transformed into a White Zetsu. They had found the infiltrator. What surprised still surprised Yuki was the fact that his chakra was identical to Neji's. Had she not been with him just a few moments ago, she would have never known that he was a fake.

"I'll let you handle the current situation?" Yuki asked Sakura. "I think I need to report this in person to the headquarters."

"Of course." Sakura replied as others began gathering around them.

At those words, Yuki teleported herself back to the headquarters immediately. Every battlefield had to be made aware of the possible infiltration from the White Zetsus. Friends from yesterday could now be enemies. There was no real way of telling who was their ally and who was their enemy.

As she appeared at the headquarters, it was fairly empty there without the Raikage and Tsunade present. She was greeted by Shikaku who had a stern look on his face as he knew that something had to be up for her to be present at the headquarters. He urged her to sit down and to give them all the details. She told him everything: from the infiltration to the chakra imitation. The wrinkles on his forehead accentuated themselves as he was trying to figure out what to do about the current situation. The only thing he could think of was the installment of a password system. However, it would be hard to spread the news to everyone. If not everyone was informed, then the possibility of a fake getting that password would remain. Their plan would therefore be worthless. They couldn't ask everyone to constantly be on their guard either as that would lead to distrust among the army and nothing would get done. However, Yuki pointed out that, at the moment, no action could be taken either because the fear had already taken place among the divisions.

"How is the Naruto situation, by the way?" Yuki asked as they came to no good solution for the White Zetsus.

"I haven't heard back from Tsunade-sama nor the Raikage." Shikaku told her. "It's almost sunrise, yet... Where do you think you are going?"

"I can't think right now. I might as well head to where Naruto is and get my body moving." She replied as she had stood up from her seat.

The Tsuchikage was also present in the room. He hadn't said a single word. At her abrupt movement, he simply snickered. She turned her head towards him and glared at him. She still did not like that old man. He was cynical and filled with bad intention from what she could tell. His lack of trust in the younger generation bothered her.

"Glaring at your elders is not polite, you know." He then said as he made his way towards her.

Yuki decided to ignore that comment. She wasn't usually impolite, but she couldn't help it towards him.

"I heard about your fights in the last few hours." He then began. "I must say, you are better than what I had thought."

"Should I be grateful at those words?" She asked, still with a defiant tone.

"I am complimenting you." He replied.

"Well, thank you then." Yuki replied sarcastically.

"I still don't like your tone, nor do I like you in general." He then said as he turned his back to her. "But I cannot deny that your devotion to this world is quite impressive. Just make sure you don't crumble before the war actually ends."

Yuki smiled. She never thought she would hear such kind words from the Tsuchikage. He was growing on her all of the sudden, just like how she was growing on him. She couldn't say she liked him very much either, but, at the very least, she gained some respect for him for recognizing the effort that others have put in to win the war.

"I'll take my leave then." She said as she flashed herself to Naruto.

She had marked him before the war started knowing that it was going to be needed. As she arrived, he was already facing the Raikage. Tsunade seemed to have sided with Naruto as she stood face to face with the Raikage as well. Bee was also present. He looked at Yuki and smiled at her, glad to have seen a familiar face. She smiled back despite feeling the tension in the air.

"Oi, Yuki! You are reasonable. Talk some reason into Naruto and Bee." The Raikage told her.

"Sorry, Raikage-sama. I'm actually here to help Naruto." Yuki replied as she walked up to Naruto placed her hand on his shoulder as to show him that she was on their side. "I always knew that he would eventually join the fight. I just thought that he had to master the Nine-Tails' chakra first before doing so."

Naruto looked at her and smiled. He knew that she came, not to stop him, but to help him accomplish what he wanted to. She always believed in him no matter what. He knew nothing had changed despite the war. The Raikage, on the other hand, seemed unhappy with her response. He simply ignored her. Naruto tried to force his way through. He was faster Yuki had ever seen him before. However, the Raikage had his lightning cloak on and had no problem matching his speed. It wasn't that the Raikage was impressive, it was the fact that Naruto, in his current state, was able to keep up with his speed. Bee then intervened.

"Brother, ever since you became the Raikage, you've underestimated my power." He told the Raikage as they exchanged blows.

"Is that so? Prove it to me that you are strong enough." He told Bee as they both charged at each other with their infamous lariat.

Bee wasn't wrong. He proved himself to be stronger than the Raikage as he managed to push him away and into the ground. However, it barely did anything to the Raikage who stood up immediately and increased the amount of chakra that formed his lightning cloak. Naruto tried to seize the opportunity to make it past him. The Raikage caught wind of his sudden movement right away and headed towards him with a punch that would certainly kill him if it landed. Yuki flashed herself to Naruto and flashed them both a few steps away from the Raikage as his punch hit the rocks that formed the valley around them instead. The stones crumbled into dust onto the ground.

"Raikage-sama, you've always said that the only ninja who was able to outrun you was Konoha's Yellow Flash." Yuki told him. "I guess this makes two shinobis now who are able to overcome your speed."

"Thank you, Yuki!" Naruto said he began running away from them with Bee following quickly after.

Tsunade smirked as the two of them disappeared in the horizon of the rising sun. Yuki stood there, ready to stop the Raikage if he ever decided to go after them. He didn't. He undid his lightning cloak and walked towards Yuki.

"Do you believe in him?"

"I do." Yuki replied with a genuine smile on her face.

"I've always believed in your judgement." He simply said as he began walking back in direction of the headquarters.

Tsunade looked at Yuki and smiled before following the Raikage's footsteps. Meanwhile, Yuki stood there for a bit. She closed her eyes for a second as the sun blinded her. It was already that time. It was time for the silence of the night to be lifted. The fighting was about to resume. She enjoyed the last few seconds of peace that the warm sun provided her. She didn't know whether she would feel this warmth ever again. She figured it was best to enjoy it now while she still could. She took a deep breath and decided it was time to head back into the war zone.

End of Chapter 67

Thank you for reading this new chapter!

I hope you enjoyed it!

Please let me know in the reviews how you are feeling about everything!

xox

Krystal