By the time you hit eleven months a lot of important milestones had been hit. You clearly remember how loud your mother had called for your father and brother and the camera when she walked into your nursery one morning and found you standing upright.

You were eight months old and had been holding onto the bars of your crib for dear life, not noticing when the door adjacent to you opened. You nearly jumped out of your skin at your mother's loud shout but happily called out to her once you recognized that there was no threat.

"Momma!"

"Oh my precious baby look at you! Oh you're so strong and smart already aren't you? Hold on for a bit longer sweet pea, Shikaku bring the goddamn camera quickly!"

Your father had not stopped bragging to his friends about your strength and Ensui demanded a copy of the photo taken.

When you were nine months old you took your first few steps. You had been working on building up enough strength to walk for months and you were very close to simply giving up until that day.

Your uncle and your father's friends had been over for a few drinks and were now sitting around watching a shogi match between your brother and father. Your mother was at work and had left you in your father's care. You were inside of your house while the rest of the men were outside on the patio. You had been happily munching on some cereal while watching the news when the television had lost signal.

You waited for a bit, most of the time the signal would come back if you just waited. After about ten minutes you grew annoyed and called out to your father.

"Papa!"

No response so you tried again.

"Papaaa!"

Turning your attention away from the screen towards the patio you could see the group of men laughing and talking amongst each other. Their voices were far louder than yours so your father probably couldn't even hear you.

Letting out a huff of frustration you got on your hands and knees and began to crawl towards them. Embarrassment coursed through your body when you thought of Tony and how he would boast about his daughter inheriting his genius, he had been able to walk since he was seven months old and apparently so had his daughter.

Fuck this, if Tony can learn to walk at seven months I can do it at nine. I may not be a Stark but I'm a goddamn Nara.

Using a nearby chair as a crutch you pulled yourself onto your feet, wobbling and cursing under your breath at the effort it took. Shakily you brought one leg out in front of the other and repeated the process until you were able to keep your balance without the chair.

The first few steps without the chair were difficult and uncoordinated, looking much like a drunk person's. But as you drew closer to your destination you stance improved and you weren't as winded as you would have expected yourself to be. You kept your eyes focused on the ground, you feared if you looked up you would lose your balance and fall.

When you crossed the doorway and felt the chilly air hit your pajama clad body, you grew even more frustrated, your father was probably crushing your brother in the game and the other adults were dead silent all of a sudden.

Why couldn't they have shut the fuck up when I was asking for the tv to be fixed. All I wanted was to watch some local news and eat my fucking ceareal but nooo, these boomers had to be loud as shit and force me to embarrass myself.

"Shikaku, look!"

Raidō's voice was a whisper but everyone heard him. Lifting your head from your feet you scowled at the dumbfounded expressions the men were wearing. Deciding to mess with them a bit you drew in a deep breath and then shrieked as loud as you could.

"FIX GODDAMN TV!"

The group of men all jumped at your shrill voice but made no move to get up. Getting more upset you wobbled your way to the shogi board and threw the pieces everywhere. Huffing in anger you whined when your brother brought you to his chest.

"Ayumi-chan… did you just walk?"

Wiggling in his hold until you were facing him, you crossed your arms over your chest and scowled deeper.

"TV broken."

Choza was the first to burst out in laughter, though he was followed by Inoichi, Genma, Raidō and Asuma. Your father shook himself out of his shock and carried you back inside where he placed you on the tatami mat and moved to fix the signal for the television. You grumpily munched on your cereal as your uncle's loud voice travelled into the living room from the patio. He was gushing over you.

"You see that shit Hatake? My niece is going to be the best kunoichi this clan has ever had. What other nine month old do you know can speak and walk as well as she can?! Absolutely no one! Not even your genius ass was walking at nine months."

Your brother walked into the living room and sat right next to you. He was cooing and praising you and you couldn't help but smile a little at his mushy actions. He was right in the middle of a rant to you when he stopped and his eyes blew wide open.

"Dad, we didn't take a picture of Ayumi-chan walking."

Your father stilled and then shot upright and hurriedly made his way into the master bedroom to pull out the camera. The rest of the night was spent trying to get you to walk again, your mother would bestow her wrath upon everyone in the house for not memorializing such a moment.

When she had walked into the house she had found this scene: Choza and Inoichi were on their stomachs flopping around like fish and making baby sounds, Raidō and Genma were in two corners and attempting to not piss themselves from laughing, Asuma, Kakashi and Ensui were dancing around the living room like crackheads and your father was on your left, begging you to get up and walk so Shikamaru could take the "goddamn shitty picture for your mother's fucking scrapbook".

When your eyes met hers you let out a loud squeal that made the men freeze. Seven pairs of eyes turned towards your mother as you lifted yourself up and wibble wobbled towards her. Her face morphed from disgusted to shocked at the same time a flash went off.

Thinking back to those two memories made your once cold heart warm. You loved your family, so much so that it scared you to think about the possibility of losing one of them. You couldn't help the warm smile you sent your dozing father, he worked long hours and was only home one day out of the week. Those days he called daddy daughter bonding days, which consisted of waking up close to noon and eating ice cream from the freezer. Without fail, your father would take a nap from 3 to 5pm and during those two hours he was dead to the world.

You gave yourself a few more minutes to marvel and appreciate your father, he really was such a softie when it came to you or Shikamaru.

When you finally heard his breathing deepen and even out, you stood and made your way towards his study. You see, about a week ago your brother's team had received a D rank mission to help sort books at the library. When you heard that magical word you grew insistent that you go with him, going as far as to throw a tantrum when your father tried walking out the door with you.

While at the library you were placed in the children's section and left to your own devices. This made your escape easy. You stood and walked right out of the children's section and into the "Jounin" rank section of the library. Rows and rows of bookshelves welcomed you. All of these contained information that only people like Asuma could access per village safety. Reading through the first few confirmed some of the worst nightmares you had to be true.

The only problem was that your dreams weren't limited to events that had happened prior to your birth, you also dreamed of what you could only assume was the future and it completely terrified you.

Konoha would get destroyed, worse than when Orochimaru invaded with Suna almost two years ago. The entire village would be turned into dust, your brother would break his leg and many shinobi would die. How could you simply sit around while it happened, you had firsthand knowledge of what was to come and you were going to use it. Which is why you now had a plan, and once said plan was set in motion all the dominos would fall in your favor. Everyone you had come to love would live long happy lives.

Quiet feet made their way towards the back of the traditional Japanese house, stopping in front of a thick wooden door. The door was closed with a chakra lock, only a very specific fluctuation of chakra would grant you access. It's a good thing your father had indirectly shown you it first hand whenever he would carry you in here to grab a few things then leave. You focused on your chakra and slowly let it seep into the seals on the door, waiting for the exact moment to flex and bend it to fit the mechanism. Ten seconds later you were inside the study and carefully inspecting the scrolls and books within your reach.

There were multiple scrolls on sealing which looks as though they hadn't been touched in years, you grabbed them all and swiftly hid them under the floorboards in your room. A few traditional Nara clan scrolls which were squished in the very back corner of a cubby caught your attention as well so you quickly snatched those and hid them next to the sealing scrolls. The last bunch of scrolls you stole detailed advanced ninjutsu and kenjutsu techniques, something you're certain you're going to need when the time comes.

As quietly as you could, you made your way towards the door but something caught your attention. An open file lay on your father's chair, bold letter detailing only one word: ROOT. You knew you only had a small amount of time before your father rose from the dead but the picture underneath the bold word made you freeze. Your entire body shivered as your gazed down at the picture underneath the word, an old man with bandages covering his right eye. You knew this man, he had ordered Uchiha Itachi to murder his entire clan but no one ever tied it back to him.

'The geezer is supposed to be a counselor to the hokage, nobody knows the truth of the Uchiha Massacre, no one knows how he practically invited Orochimaru into the Leaf to assassinate the third hokage, no one-'

You quickly opened the file, you had to know the reason for your father to be investigating such a dangerous man. What you read was worse than you were prepared to deal with. Children, there were hundreds of missing children reported from all the major clans in Konoha. All except one, the Nara clan. You felt like being sick, this man was kidnapping children, most of whom were still prepubescent, and doing something to them. And if you were right then your clan would be next. Not wanting to upset yourself even more you closed the file and fled the room, stopping by your room to drop off the last few scrolls you had found interesting.

Your father was still laying on the couch by the time you got back and you wanted nothing more than to have him hold you. You quickly ran towards your father and threw yourself onto his sleeping form. Fear filled your small body at the thought of being taken away from your family, at the thought of going through someone akin to the Red Room again.

"Wha? Sweetheart what are you doing up from your nap? Why are you crying princess?"

You were more shaken by the file then you would have liked to admit, you didn't want to leave your family and you certainly didn't want anyone from your clan to be forced to leave theirs. Overall you just felt unbelievably sad. Kids were probably going through torture at the same time you're cuddling your father and you couldn't stop an insurmountable amount of guilt from swelling in your heart. It made you cry harder and cling to your father tighter.

Empathy wasn't something you had in your old life and maybe that was for the best at the time. Now however, you understood why people said 'I love you', you had a family who supported you and cherished you regardless of your personality and you loved them right back.

In that moment, as you cried your frustrations out into your father chest you made your resolve. The plan would need to be edited quite a bit but the end result would stay the same, the only difference now was that you were gonna put a stop to Shimura Danzo and save those kids.

February 15 marked your first birthday and you were salty. Both your brother and father were out of the village on missions, meaning you wouldn't be celebrating your birthday until they came back. The only problem was that your brother and his team were on a long term mission, having left a little over a week ago and not expected to return for months.

It was bullshit. But there was absolutely nothing you could do to change that, so you spent the majority of your days with Raidō and Genma. They would swipe you out of your mother's arms before she went to work and would return you just as she made it home. They loved to show you off to other jounin and you loved the attention. They taught you how to correctly hold senbon and shuriken and kissed the small cuts you got as a result. They became your closest friends but even they had duties to tend to, meaning sometimes you were left with other teams.

Yuhi Kurenai was Asuma's long time crush. Everyone in the village knew she also had a crush on Asuma except for the man in question. During his absence you had come to know her and her team very well. Watching the four of them train was astounding, Hinata was so quiet and shy but when fired up she was fierce. The Hyuga's gentle fist was beautiful compared to the other taijutsu you had seen. Rather than relying on brute force and a massive build, the Hyuga made use of light touches and lean physiques.

Inuzuka Kiba, on the other hand, was a huge damage dealer. He and his canine partner could rotate their bodies at high speeds and plow their way through almost anything. His personality was the complete opposite of Hinata's, brash and arrogant but loyal to those who earned it.

Aburame Shino was peculiar to say the least. His clan utilized insects to deal their damage. They had a symbiotic relationship with the insects, they lived within the body of the Aburame and fed off of their chakra and would give their lives to protect and fight for the user in return.

Team 8 definitely was a team of unique fighters, and if you were being honest you were immensely jealous of them for it. Your fighting style was so generic and bland compared to the gentle fist or the rough Inuzuka style. You took notes every time you watched them train and would later attempt to mimic their movements.

You were lucky that you were close to Gai, he was the best taijutsu user in your entire village and arguably the country. When you asked him for pointers and help training he had actually cried tears of joy as he ranted about your youthfulness.

The Red Room's method of training was brutal but compared to Gai's rigorous regimen, it was a walk in the park. Three days out of the week he would pick you up from your home at four in the morning for your early morning jog, which was actually a 10 mile sprint. Gai's protēgē, Rock Lee, also accompanied you with your training, whenever you began to fall behind he would encourage you and push you to keep up.

After your early morning run you would be subject to various different warm-ups. 100 pushups and sit ups, 100 yard hand walk, jumping rope until you reached 1000 and 200 squats. After that Gai would guide your tired body into the correct stance for throwing punches, blocking punches, kicking correctly and blocking kicks.

After a month of this type of training you were bumped up to a more intense warm-up and were taught the basics to Konoha's standard taijutsu and also Gai's style of taijutsu. It was painful and many days you felt like dying but it worked. Once you knew enough of the general taijutsu you could mix in your Red Room style and make it your own.

Aside from your growing knowledge of taijutsu your mother also began drilling etiquette and basic diplomacy into you. On days you spent with Raidō and Genma you would come home to a strict setting. Your mother made sure you understood why you needed to know politics and etiquette like the back of your hand.

"The Nara clan is a very influential clan in Konoha, Ayumi. As the daughter of the clan head you need to know what is expected of you. You will become a prominent political figure who will bring honor to our clan. In order to do that you need to be polite and respectful to absolutely everyone. You also need to be aware of the current political climate and have a firm stance in what's best for the clan and village."

Ugh how patronizing. This is actually the plot to Mulan but okay mother, I shall bring honor to you and father and the clan. God Clint would never let me live this down if he ever found out.

Your mother was not fully aware of your lessons with Gai, she knew you loved the art of taijutsu and that you were learning a bit but you didn't think she knew you were creating your own style.

"Momma why does it matter if I know the current political climate? I'm not even two yet."

At your question your mother's face softened.

"Ayumi-chan, you have been blessed with a great intellect. You can speak fluently way ahead of your time and you are capable of understanding most adult situations. Your path has always been to become a politician for the Nara clan and Konoha, you were going to learn all of this sooner or later. If you are capable of learning it now then why wait? The more familiar you are with these ideologies the faster your mind will adjust to think politically. And every woman must know perfect etiquette. You will never find a husband if you don't. Doing these things will bring your father and your clan, honor. Is that not what you want?"

Oh you manipulative woman, you sneaky sneaky snake.

"I want to live a happy life momma."

"Then you must learn this Ayumi-chan. Now back to the purpose of the daimyo…"

By this time it had been six months since you had last seen your brother and your godfather meaning they only had a little over a month before they were supposed to return.

Like this you became well versed in local politics and various other villages politics. Every Sunday your father would sleep in and eat ice cream with you, quizzing you on different topics of political discussion. Monday, Wednesday and Friday became your training days with Lee and Gai. Raidō and Genma became your closest friends as you spent the majority of the week with them. And just like that the last month of waiting for your brother to return flew by until he was walking into the house.

Since Shikamaru's mission had run for almost eight months your mother decided to scrap celebrating your first birthday and simply throw a big bash for your second. You truly did not care about a big party but recognized that it was important for you, as the future clan diplomat, to have a healthy relationship with the other clans.

If you're going to be clan head then you have to establish your presence, you're a Nara so it's expected that you'd be a genius. Control the situation and keep your audience engaged, don't let their minds wander.

February 15th marked your 2nd birthday. Not only had your mother awoken you at the ass crack of dawn but she forced you into an uncomfortable, pale yellow yukata with matching geta. And if that wasn't enough she spent hours straightening your usual mess of wavy hair and pulling it into a long slick ponytail. Light makeup sat on your adolescent face and you were reminded about everything that was expected of you. By the time you were finally deemed ready and presentable the party had already started.

You were grumpy, hungry, and sleepy but still followed your mother's request and smiled towards everyone present. Your many uncles let out whoops and cheers at your attire and you couldn't help but laugh at it. Your house was filled to the brim with different clan heads and shinobi. Your father stood and took your small hand in his much larger one and introduced you to the various clan heads. You thanked your mother for her lessons on etiquette as you politely but confidently greeted them. Most were silent and respectful in return to your greeting except for one woman. Her hair was wild, her cheeks painted with red and her nails were sharp like claws. At her side was a massive wolf wearing an eyepatch. At your respectful bow and introduction she howled with laughter and ruffled your hair.

"Ah Shikaku, what the hell man!? Why does every clan raise their female pups to be weak and docile. Oi kid, don't take any bullshit from anyone ever, women are just as strong as men if not stronger. If you ever want to learn how to not be a little pussy ass bitch then come find me in the Inuzuka compound!"

A few of the clan heads that were listening gasped and your father tensed. Before he could say anything though, you answered the woman.

"With all due respect Inuzuka-sama, I'm not weak. There's a difference between being weak and docile and having respect for others. If you're so insecure about your own political standing amongst the clan heads because of your gender then perhaps you should work on proving yourself with your actions and judgments, not berating the etiquette my mother has taught me."

A stunned silence filled the living room at your small speech until your father let out a loud sigh.

"Ayumi-chan you can't just say things like that. Apologize to Tsume-san."

"No Shikaku, the pup has every right to voice her own opinions. Hell no one has had the gall to say shit like that to me in years. I like that kid, you don't let anyone give you shit and I'm sorry for making you feel that way."

"Regardless of your pardon Inuzuka-sama, I do apologize for my words. I am not ashamed about my upbringing and I do not have anything against your opinions on me. I do not take well to those who insult my family though. Despite that, I agree with your views on women, and I'm certain you have worked diligently to break any gender norms within the shinobi community and I hope more kunoichi will use you as a role model. I look up to you in that respect Inuzuka-sama."

Said woman howled with laughter again and asked your mother to teach her son some manners like yours. You smiled lightly and continued to greet guests until your mother announced it was time to eat. Sitting between your father and brother you ate small portions of rice and karaage and sipped some green tea.

Your uncle was already half a bottle into sake and was filling up a small cup before slamming it right in front of you. The loud noise caught the attention of everyone present and your uncle took full advantage of that.

"Alright Ayumi-chan, in order to be recognized as a real Nara you have to be able to handle your liquor. If you can't even handle this small baby ass cup of sake then you can't be a real Nara!"

Your father was pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance and your mother was mumbling profanities. You brother was simply watching the scene unfold. The rest of the party was watching with amusement written all over their faces, even the Hyuga looked intrigued. You looked at the cup in front of you and thought about the correct words to say.

"Ensui ojisan, surely you aren't wasted enough to realize how wrong this is?"

"Mah Ayumi-chan, that just sounds like an excuse to not embarrass yourself in front of the most important people in the village."

"Ah, that is not the case at all ojisan. I simply believed you were a man who tried to follow some sort of moral code."

At your response a few of the jounin began to get more excited, your father was beaming with pride at your quick and witty response.

"Oi Shikaku, I didn't know you raised a chicken. What a loser."

"Alright Ensui ojisan, I'll make you a deal. I will drink this sake and the rest of the sake in the bottle for a favor. I don't know what the favor may be right now but I can cash in that favor whenever I wish and you must follow through with it."

"HA! If you can do that then I'll become your personal slave for a year!"

"Very well. Papa, Mama, you can blame my early start towards alcoholism on Ensui ojisan."

Both parents began to protest but you were quick to take the cup and down the liquid. It had been so long since you had had any type of liquor and you couldn't help but sigh in delight. The rest of the party went quiet, probably waiting for you to cough or back out of your wager. Lowering your cup you turned towards your father and politely addressed him.

"Papa, please pass my Ensui ojisan's sake. It seems he believes me to be, and if I may quote Inuzuka-sama's words from earlier, a pussy ass bitch."

Howling laughter and loud whooping broke out amongst the guests as your father hid his smile while passing the liquor. You made sure you filled your cup the perfect amount before downing it and repeating the process. As you poured more and more shots the guests got louder and even started placing bets. You finished off the rest of the sake, taking a total of six shots before turning to your uncle. His eyes were wide, mouth agape and face pale. You smiled sweetly at him before giving your final statement.

"Momma ain't raising no bitch, ojisan."

Raidō, Genma and Inoichi all let out loud shouts of excitement at the same time as Asuma lifted you into a spin. You laughed and apologized for your crude language before settling back down at the table. Settling into your godfathers lap, the other clan heads were much more interested and engaged with you than before. Tsume had deemed you worthy to be an Inuzuka since you were "more badass than any other Nara I've ever known", Shibi simply congratulated you, Choza and Inoichi would not stop praising you and even Hisashi spoke to you without a tone of arrogance.

You smiled and conversed back with them all until they seemed satisfied. By then the clan heirs had left the dining room to go gossip out in the backyard and you asked for permission to go as well. Your mother allowed you to as long as you changed out of your yukata and into your casuals.

You gladly raced into your room and changed into a simple dark green long sleeve with your clan insignia on the back and some black leggings. Hastily slipping on your disgusting black sandals and running out the back door you made a straight beeline towards a certain chunin. When he was a clear shot away from you, you set off at a dead sprint before jumping into the air and shouting his name.

"LEE-KUN!"

Said chunin turned towards your voice and smiled widely at you as he opened his arms. In the last year the bowl cut teen had become something akin to a sibling to you, like Yelena. He encouraged you to be the best you could be and was always willing to help you train. Even when he and Gai were out on missions, he would leave his book on training technique with you to help you in their absence. Landing in his arms had you laughing and smiling widely.

"Ayumi-chan! You're challenge with your uncle was the most youthful. Though you must not fall prey to alcoholism, it would ruin all the work you've done this year. How about we have a race to celebrate your birthday? A forty five mile run, and the first one back doesn't have to do crunches?"

At Lee's loud outburst you laughed and others gasped. That was something you hadn't told your brother yet, he simply assumed you went out with your father or Raidō and Genma.

"Oi Lee, put the poor girl down. I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to go on a training spree with you."

You turned your head towards the voice and landed on Tenten-san. She had on a face of exasperation, mimicked by Neji-san.

"Actually Tenten-san, I love training with Lee-kun and Gai sensei in the morning. But you're right, that's not what I want to do right now. How does a game of hide and seek in the dark sound?"

At your suggestion the majority of the teens perked up, and the ones not excited were quickly convinced to play by their teammates. Your brother had gone back inside to find flashlights for everyone while you braided Lee's hair into a bun.

"Lee-kun can I pluck your eyebrows sometime? I'll pluck Gai sensei's too if you say yes."

"If you can somehow convince Gai sensei to allow his eyebrows to be plucked then I too will allow it!"

Lee plopped you back onto the ground when your brother returned with his arms full of flashlights. Once everyone had one Ino took control and went over the rules.

"Okay, whoever is IT has to stay here and count to fifty, when they find someone then that person joins the IT team and helps search for others until only one person is left. The last person to be found is the winner. In order to find the last person you have to play a tweaked version of marco polo, the IT team shouts something and you have to shout back. Understood?"

"Is hiding in the forest allowed?"

"Yes, just keep in mind that there are deer wandering the forest. Try not to hurt them please."

At your brother's words more of the group riled with excitement at the prospect of hiding in a dark forest. It was Kiba who groaned and complained about who would be IT first and as punishment was chosen to be IT. He cursed and boasted about finding everyone easily because of his enhanced senses but accepted the position nonetheless.

Once he had turned around and walked back into the house the group dashed for the forest. Your chakra control was superb, meaning you could easily climb up trees and jump from high branches. Your time spent at home had helped you find a small sinkhole on the far left of the forest. It was big enough to fit a platoon of shinobi but the entrance was small and hidden by densely packed bushes and grass. You immediately dashed for it once the group dispersed.

It would take you a bit to reach but you knew the way by heart, which is what made tonight strange. You knew you should have reached your destination by now, you had been tree jumping for almost fifteen minutes but still you hadn't reached the sinkhole. There was also something simmering in the air around you, it made the air thick and your movements sluggish. You stopped and reanalysed your situation, looking around you definitely remembered passing by a certain grove of trees, you were running in circles. But that was impossible, how could you be running in circles when you were running in a straight line?

You wracked your mind for any possible answer to the problem but you were honestly stumped, until you smelled it. Smoke. Turning in circles you tried tracking the smell or finding the source. It seemed almost instantly you were circled by flames, they had appeared from nowhere, and no one seemed to be close to you so you had no idea where it came from. Panic coursed through your body but you force yourself to keep your calm.

Alright, something is definitely wrong here. I should have reached the sinkhole by now but something is messing with my mind. Then the fire, that came out of nowhere and it seemingly started from nothing. Ah shit this is a genjutsu isn't it?

Thinking quickly you tried to dispel the genjutsu with your own chakra but it wouldn't budge, that meant you had to resort to harming yourself physically. Bringing your arm up to your mouth, you bit harshly into your forearm, wincing at the gush of metallic liquid filling your mouth. At that moment the fire began to melt away and the trees shifted, you weren't near the sinkhole. In Fact you had long since past the sinkhole and were on the outskirts of the Nara forest. You could feel a group of people moving around you so you shined your flashlight around you.

Maybe Kiba is really good at genjutsu?

"Kiba-kun? Is that you?"

Silence answered your question but you still felt a group of people watching you. You stayed still and silent for a long while, willing yourself to not piss your pants from fear.

Had you not been trained by Konoha's marvelous green beast and the Red Room then you would have taken four shuriken to the legs. Using your rising adrenaline you made a mad dash towards the compound. Behind you leaves rustling and metal clanging together could be heard and you yelped when kunai started being thrown. The further you ran and the more projectiles you narrowly dodged the angrier the group following you got.

"Owl, you better catch the girl before she makes it back to the group. Danzo-sama wants her. If you cannot catch her then make sure you kill her, she cannot know we were sent to retrieve her."

What. The. Fuck.

After hearing the baritone voice say those words you ran as fast as you could, ROOT was looking for you and they were willing to risk entering the Nara forest to get you. Your heart was pounding painfully in your chest and you felt your breath get shallower with every step you took.

Two cloaked figures maneuvered their way in front of you and tried to catch you in ninja wire, you barely managed to escape but not without the wires slicing into your arms and legs. You were bleeding steadily and you were slowing down, you had to think of some sort of plan before the blood loss becomes an issue.

You ducked under some brush and crawled into a heavily obstructed path. Once there you spread your chakra as far as you could, hoping to find a familiar chakra signature. One of your chasers let out a predatory growl and flared his chakra violently.

In that instant you felt all the air leaving your lungs, this man was looking to kill and it was clear that his target was you. As scared as you were you felt a small flush of relief, that man's uncontrollable rage had sealed their fates. Their position and presence were now disclosed to any trained shinobi within a ten mile radius. In response to the large amount of killing intent let out, you released your own chakra in code. It was a simple code that Gai had taught you in case something ever went wrong.

The rest of the group reprimanded the man but the deed had been done, already you could feel the familiar chakra of your father, uncle and godfather racing towards your position from the east and the group of chunin's chakra from the north. You smiled a strained smile at your chasers.

"Oh you're fucked now, if you can't even catch me then there's no way you can outrun my family and friends."

You were so caught up in your small victory that you failed to notice a cloaked figure circle around your back side until a strong kick was delivered to your head. Landing on the ground with a dull thu, you willed your eyes to remain open. Black spots littered your vision and when you moved a violent need to vomit almost consumed you.

That's a pretty severe concussion, I'm surprised that didn't cause my head to explode considering the amount of chakra in that kick.

You barely had enough time to roll out of the way of a kunai, it became embedded into the meat of your thigh but that was better than your chest. Screaming loudly you gathered as much chakra as you could into your fist and punched the individual. His body gave a sick crunch as it became embedded into a nearby tree. Leaving the kunai in your thigh you quickly staggered away from the other's reach.

That's good, compartmentalize the pain, focus solely on making it to safety. I can't die yet, I have to stop Nagato and the Akatsuki and learn to open the eight gates and see my brother embarrass himself in front of Temari.

You were tiring quickly and your head injury made everything in your sight blurry but you continued to run. You could still hear the ROOT agents trailing you and even circling you but they no longer made any moves to capture you.

You let out a choked sob when you distantly heard your father calling out your name, screaming out a response you failed to notice the small pieces of paper scattered around your area. As your family came into sight, a ROOT agent fell to your right. You stiffened and attempted to run but he grabbed onto your neck and lifted you from the ground.

"Nara Ayumi, you have been given a gift you do not deserve. Many people will come for you, only ROOT can keep you safe."

Your mind was reeling, unable to focus on anything.

A gift? Does he mean my visions or whatever the fuck I see?

Your family was only a few hundred meters away, close enough to see everything that was happening but far enough to not be hurt by it. Before you could question what the agent meant he formed the "snake" hand seal.

Your eyes widened and you choked out a scream as the agents body exploded into a warm, wet mess. You were caught between screaming in utter shock and disgust and pain as the heat and fire rolled off of the agent's body and burned you. Before you could move away from the area more explosions went off. One from right behind you and another from underneath you, these sent you flying through the air and shrieking in pain. Your chakra rushed towards the surface of your skin in a sorry attempt to shield your skin from the overwhelming heat. To you it seemed like the entire forest was in flames, you no longer could see much of anything other than red and orange flames. Your body was burning and you panicked.

Thinking quickly you punched the now loose soil underneath you to create a cater. Curling into the cater you shut your eyes and allowed the blasts to cover you with debris, it was better than staying out in the open and burning. You did not account for was a gargantuan pine tree to fall over your shelter, pinning your small body. The last sound you heard before your world turned bright red was your uncle and father shouting your name.