Butterflies

"Me? I'm nobody. I'm not skilled like Uchiha-san. I am not passionate like Haruno-san. I am not smart like Nara-san. I'm not as strong as Chouji-san. I'm not as collected as Aburame-san. Or as pretty as Yamanaka-san. I'm not as confident as Inuzuka-san. If anything, I'm like Hyuuga-san, socially awkward. Oh wait, no, she's just shy. The socially awkward one is me." OC! Team 7 remix!

Chapter 49 – Fox and Wolf

8-8

So… we're here then. There was a half hour break so everyone could place more bets, stretch their legs, and whatnot. Now, in the arena, stand my Naru-nii and a redhead that would like nothing more than to rip him to shreds.

This is the moment Hokage-dono believes everything will start. This match; though it is far more likely that Sound –Orochimaru– would have wanted to see Sasuke against him, and not Naruto. Not that it even matters seeing as that bastard already has Sasuke, just not the way he hoped for.

So, Aya, are you ready? Are you ready for hundreds, if not thousands, of invaders to tear through streets that watched you grow up? Are you ready to not know if your brothers, your sisters, your colleagues, your friends, your family… everything you care about… are you ready to not know if they're alright?

"Imouto-chan." I turn to the voice, finding Shika-nii with a serious gaze, his eyes warm and welcoming. I can't fight off the goofy grin hard enough. No one ever calls me 'little sister' after all. Sure, 'sis', 'sweetie', even 'baby' from time to time, but never 'imouto-chan'.

I lay my head against his shoulder, grateful for idiotic big brothers. "Being stupid. Sorry." I mumble. He doesn't react, but he doesn't need to. "Take care of him for me?"

"Like you need to ask." He sounds amused. I can hear that stupid smirk in his voice too. "He loves you, you know."

My face heats up instantly.

"He's just too scared to tell you."

"N-nn."

"… You'd better start braiding your hair." He reminds me. I nod, standing up a bit straighter and get down to it. I wonder… was Shika-nii always this… gentle towards me?

8-8

"Combatants ready? Begin!"

The second that last word is spoken, there's an explosion of sand from Gaara's gourd. Even the gourd itself explodes. A sea of sand, a wave of it, threatens to engulf my Naru-nii, but he doesn't seem to care.

At the last second, he body flickers towards the wall, letting the blood stained sand hit nothing but air. Gaara doesn't seem to immediately notice, so he wastes chakra trying to crush the poor air – or did Naru-nii leave a shadow clone just to mess with the already unstable boy?

From his perch, Naru-nii goes stealth. And I mean, so deep in stealth mode that I can't tell where he is other than his scent. Dozens of clones explode into existence, and the original starts skulking away from that spot, trying to find a nice quiet place to relax and study his opponent. Has he been hanging around Shika-nii?

Gaara stands in the same spot he began, his sand trying to crush each clone as they come, but there's a problem: the clones are focusing wind chakra into their now drawn blades, and they are ripping the sand constructions and turning them back into loose grains.

The first time it happens, Gaara doesn't react at all – just a coincidence. After the fiftieth time, Gaara grins. And not a sane grin. It's a manic, overly happy, 'your blood is what mother wants' kind of grin; it affects me like nails on a chalkboard.

Gaara changes up his tactic, and instead of sending 'sand tendrils', he forms little shurikens of the sand and flings those instead; by the dozen. Naruto's clones slice them, overloading them with chakra, which cause them to explode.

Why would he waste chakra on that? Better keep an eye on the sand affected like that.

When that doesn't work, Gaara starts to focus. His eyes go wide, and I can feel his grip on reality slipping. He's no longer just standing there, he's hunching forwards, gripping his hair with both hands, his face partly covered.

Then comes the laughter.

Sand erupts from the ground like a geyser, covering every inch of the arena. Then all that sand starts whipping up into a whirlpool of sand, every grain trying to overwhelm my brother. A tidal wave of sand crashes down onto the clones. My heart skips a beat, unsure what to make of this.

I smell around, trying to locate the original, but his scent is just everywhere from all the clones. I don't know if my idiot is alright down there.

Twenty little explosions go off at once. The sand around the Narutos fly in every direction, and I can once again see the grass and dirt around them.

"UZUMAKI! YES, UZUMAKI! SHOW ME YOUR POWER! IT'LL BE THAT MUCH MORE DELICIOUS TO TASTE YOUR BLOOD IN MY SAND!" I shiver. There isn't a hint of killing intent in the air, that's pure bloodlust; an unhealthy craving for blood to be spilt. I was never this bad.

"You're annoying." Naruto counters, taking a page from Sasuke's book. The tightness in my chest eases slightly. If he's messing with his opponent, then he's still in control.

Then… oh, Kami-sama… all the Naruto's fling their wind imbued blades at Gaara at once. A shell of sand covers the redhead, expecting this to be enough to save him.

It isn't.

The blades rip through the sand like Chouji-kun through a bag of chips. The blades fly through the other end of the shell, most of them bloodied. There's holes in that shell, it starts to crumble. And the more it crumbles, the more Gaara's grip on reality crumbles with it. He starts wondering about the warm liquid he feels – not knowing it's his blood. When he realises, there's a blood curdling scream.

The shell rapidly reforms, only this time it looks like a giant cocoon. There seems to be veins going up and down the sand now – blue and pulsating. The Narutos just stand by, waiting for the next move.

I worry about that. Is it really smart to give someone like that the chance to come up with a plan? Is it really wise to let him continue to bleed? His grip on reality wasn't too strong to begin with, and his respect for life isn't much better.

I find myself gripping Shika-nii's arm. He doesn't comment.

"Aw, come on, Gaara. We were just having some fun. Come out, come out and pla~aaaaaay!" One of the Narutos taunts.

It takes almost five minutes, but the cocoon dissolves around Gaara. And I wish to Kami it didn't. Gaara looked unstable before. He's starting to make me look sane. And I mean like, run of the mill, cute as puppies in pink bows, serving food in a restaurant and smiling kind of sane.

I knew I'd end up running into a psycho that'd steal my thunder.

Half of Gaara's face is covered in sand. That side's eye is now black, with what looks like a yellow plus mark for a pupil. That half of his mouth is curled up in a creepy looking smile, so wide that he can't stop the drool from dripping out. That half's arm and hand have mutated as well, looking like something you'd expect on a… I don't even know. It looks like it has a bunch of little 'feelers' on it, with blue tips, and they twitch every so often.

He looks… gross. Simply gross. Utterly disgusting.

"Ah. There you are. Hey, I've got a question for you? You mind not grossing me out?" One of the Narutos taunts further.

"Yeah! And seriously! Look at your face. What chewed on you and spit you out?"

"Oi! Eyes on the prise!" I shake myself out of my stupor. That one was talking to me. "Ready, boys!? HERE WE COME!"

Feathers. The entire stadium is filled with feathers. It's starting. "Shika. Hina." They nod seriously.

I move over to the downed Sand Siblings, take my Prisoners' scroll and seal them away. I'm pleased to see that their weapons aren't sealed with them, so I take out another scroll, a smaller one, and seal those separately.

"Shino." Hinata says, her tone deathly serious. They two of them body flicker up into the crowd, obviously to meet up with Inuzuka. They have a task to complete.

I look back down in the arena, seeing Nar… no, that's Fox standing over Gaara. There's a piece of paper stuck to the redhead's forehead, and fear in his eyes. He's slowly backing up from Fox. I smell nothing but fear from him now. I almost feel bad for him. Now is not the time though.

"Shika."

"I got it, I got it." He waves me off, disappearing in a body flicker as well.

"Stay safe." I say, a longing in my voice. I don't have time to play games though, or to worry. So I mould my chakra and slide down through the floor. Once on the lower level, I unseal my things and change as quickly as I can. I don my Wolf mask and switch my weapons. I seal everything I don't need. Once satisfied, I dash out into the arena. Fox is there, glaring at Gaara. I don't bother with being nice, I seal the idiot away, happy to see the sand fall limp around where he was a second ago.

"We have orders." I remind him, strapping the scroll to my lower back for safe keeping. He nods seriously. He disappears, and I start making my way to Checkpoint Alpha. Fox and I are the only two non-Anbu allowed to not help with the last phase of the evacuation. Our task… is to be the first middle finger shoved in the enemies' plan's face.

"Stay safe… everyone."

8-8

"Wolf, Fox, you will take South Gate. Kill anything bearing its fangs." We're ordered. I know this one's scent, no matter how much she wishes to mask it. Inuzuka Tsume. She bears the title Dragon now. And that's just how she acts. She's the alpha here, and she doesn't care who disagrees.

"Affirmative." Fox and I drone. We body flicker away from the gathering of Anbu and across the rooftops. I see a steady stream of enemies, and a steadily retreating stream of allies with civilians. Our orders are to take out the enemies, but I see no reason not to do both if we can get away with it.

#Clones, guard civvies.# I sign to Fox-nii. Twenty clones pop into existence, stealthily following our own. I nod. If he can focus on help our people, I can focus on taking out the enemy.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

I make four pairs of Divine Hands, tossing them each a kunai. The first wave is upon us, but I don't care. Corpses, the lot of them. The more that come at me, the more I strike down. Any that avoid my ethereal hands, are cut down with my tanto. I don't care for any of them. This is our territory. NO ONE invades our territory!

Each time I slay one with a sword, I leave my kunai in their hide and take their weapon instead.

We keep moving, slicing through the enemy as we go. We encounter more and more of our colleagues, sometimes even civvies on their own. Fox-nii always leaves a clone or two with them, guiding them, protecting them.

I get stuck with the worst of it, as usual. I'm the incarnation of carnage. I tear through anything with a Sand or Sound headband. I behead any snake summons I encounter – which isn't easy, mind you!

The closer we get to South Gate, the thicker the waves of enemies become. I don't care. They will fall, for their foolish desire to stomp into our territory.

Once at the gate, I sigh for Fox-nii to keep his distance. I body flicker right into the thick of their numbers and I… I lose myself. From the Sound Release: Acidic Screech, to a garden of Earth Spikes.

It rains blood. A downpour of the very essence of their lives.

I create a barrier, a bubble of earth and mud, to block the entire gate. Then I pop a soldier pill, feeling my chakra reserves drop dangerously low. I walk over to my partner, to Fox-nii. He nods. It's his turn.

He pops a soldier pill as well… no three of them. I feel his chakra boiling up, almost ready to explode! Then he makes a familiar handsign.

"Forbidden Jutsu – Multi Shadow Clone Rain!" Thousands of clones litter the area we're in. His clones dash off in every direction. A true rain of death, one that makes me look like an amateur. And what's more, I hear the fighting around us die down in minutes.

Fox-nii is breathing hard, obviously wiped out from his jutsu. I don't blame him – I doubt anyone else would have survived that.

"Wolf. We need to get moving. Our section is cleared." He reminds me. I swat his arm.

"I'll send a crow to Dragon for orders." I make six shadow crows, sending three to Dragon's location; the other three fly around, surveying the area.

"SHIT! Wolf, let's move!" I don't ask, I follow.

8-8

We make it to the hospital, finding dozens of enemies engaging the guards set up here. I don't ask, I act. With the eight Divine Hands still active, I start to sing, and I start wiping out anything I don't trust.

It takes me less than a minute, thank Kami-sama.

"Report." Fox-nii demands, once the chuunin in charge here recovers from my Siren's Call.

"Anbu-san. Thank Kami-sama. We've been trying to hold down the fort here, but we got overrun. A few of them got inside. We-"

I don't even wait for him to continue. I body flicker into the hospital, and I start unleashing hell on anything bearing a blade. Six of the doctors I know are bleeding badly, but I'll tend to them in a bit.

"How many got in?" I demand.

"Six." I'd only killed four. Two to go. I sniff the air. There!

I dash down the hall, finding the last two engaging Haku's team. They're holding their own, no doubt about it, but this isn't the place to let them prove themselves. I end the last two, grabbing their corpses and dragging them with me. I don't even stop to say hello.

Back at the entrance, I find Fox-nii lining up the medical staff for me. I toss him a scroll to strip the enemies, and I start focusing on my new patients.

Thank Kami-sama these are trained professionals. I heal one, they check their own wounds and move on to heal the next. We have our comrades back on their feet in ten minutes.

"Thank you, Anbu-san." One of the doctors tells me. Haku and her team have made their way to us once again. They eye Fox-nii and myself, nodding seriously. We nod back.

-Orders are in. Academy.- I sign to Fox, and we move out once again.

8-8

"I'm going to soooooo regret this in the morning!" I complain loudly. Thank Kami-sama Momochi-san met up with us and decided we're more fun to hang around. He's been coming with us and having all the fun his twisted little heart desires.

"More orders?" Momochi-san asks, obviously happy about that.

"Nn." I nod, body flickering towards Checkpoint Alpha once again. Fox-nii and Momochi-san are hot on my heels. Once we arrive, we find the checkpoint overrun with enemies. How do these idiots keep getting in!?

Momochi-san grins, cruel and unforgiving. He grabs his blade and disappears in a burst of speed. A moment later, the ground is littered with corpses. All bearing Sand headbands, mind you.

"Good timing." Dragon nods to us. "Who's the noob?" She asks.

"Momochi Zabuza. He found us and decided we're hogging all the fun." Fox-nii updates her.

"Well, I can't say I blame the man. You two have been everywhere today." Dragon says, grinning behind her mask. I groan, not disagreeing with that. "Listen. I'm needed elsewhere. I'll need the two of you to guard this post."

"Sounds like fun. I'm coming with you." Momochi-san announces, grinning.

"You do that. I could use some backup." Dragon says. I don't doubt the two idiots over there, the ones holding the stubs of their arms, are the ones that were guarding this post before. I groan, making my way over to them.

"Where're the missing pieces?" I ask. They point. "Why do I always end up putting idiots back together?"

"Cause you're awesome, Wolf." Fox-nii announces. I just groan once again.

"You idiots are not to engage anyone else, you hear me? I'm not wasting more chakra to put you back together again after this."

"You hear that, Badger. A rookie's ordering you around." I hear amusement in that one's voice.

"Shut it, Weasel." And annoyance in this one's.

8-8

"This is bo~ooooooring!" Fox-nii complains.

"Shut it!" I order. "Boring is good at this point."

"Yeah, yeah. By the way." Fox-nii tosses me three scrolls. "Hold onto those."

I seal them into my glove, not even bothering to ask what they are – I don't care. We've been mostly relaying orders to the other units, and I've been playing happy doc to the idiots that stumbling back to us in pieces. I swear, I must be the only medic around here, because I see the same masks coming back time and time again, asking for me to patch them up again.

I don't mind, really. But it isn't doing my reserves any favours!

"Oi, Wolf-chan. It's good to see you again." Rabbit announces, another four kunais in her back. I groan.

"You playing pincushion again?" I patch her back up. "Fox?"

"Uh uh! We had a deal! Last time was supposed to be the last time!" Fox-nii complains. I cross my arms, daring him to say that again. "Jeez, Rabbit! Would you stop getting me in hot water!" He makes four more clones and sends them with her on her rounds again.

And just in time for Badger and Weasel to drag in a half dead Ferret. I groan. "You idiots can't be serious! And when did you two even sneak out!?" I curse and complain, but they know I won't deny a comrade care. I so swallow another soldier pill and get down to it.

"Are you two sure you're just trainees?" Badger asks.

"No, we just like the look of blank masks." I drone sarcastically. "Ferrets not going to wake up today." I tell them honestly. They nod seriously, body flickering back out into the chaos.

"Wolf, Fox." Dragon's back, with an annoyed looking Momochi-san. "Orders."

"Unless you plan on keeping this idiot on this plane with those orders, I suggest you shut it." I tell her honestly, still focusing the Mystic Palm jutsu and trying to reconnect the tatters of my patient's spinal chord.

"Tell me, Dragon. Wolf has been getting all the action." Fox-nii is soooo not helping!

"Nn. I need a team to break through their final defences. I was hoping for the two of you, but it seems Wolf's needed here." Dragon says, her eyes lingering on me.

"That shit's distracting, Dragon." I tell her, not in the mood to deal with this anymore. I want to go to sleep for a month! Maybe two!

"Sorry, twinkle toes." She doesn't sound sorry at all, but her eyes are no longer on me. It takes a few minutes, but I think I put her back together right. I go over her, trying to check for anything I'd missed. I sigh, letting my jutsu fizzle for the thousandth time today.

"Why am I the only one around here with medical expertise?" I complain, feeling my body trying to shut down on me.

"The others are out there, dealing with what they can." Dragon informs me. "They complain just as much as you do." She's smiling now. But I'm too far gone in my fatigue to care.

"Whatever. Get moving. And Fox?"

"Yeah, yeah." He makes a clone, leaving it here for me. I nod, waving them out.

8-8

Another hour passes. More patients come in for me. Most of them repeat offenders. I notice how most of them aren't even new wounds, just old ones that reopened in the fray. Most of them have already been given a blood plasma pill, so I can't risk giving them another. Nine times out of ten, then just pop one on their own, shrugging when I glare at them.

I've been introduced to over fifty Anbu Operatives today. I've studied their scents, their chakra signatures – kind of hard to miss it, considering most of them come in bleeding. I wonder how they're still alive half the time, but I guess most of them are just too stubborn to die.

Then… I hear it.

"AYA~AAAAAAA!" I hear Sakiko, both through the seal she bears, and from how loud she's screaming.

I tense instantly. Everyone around me notices. "Badger, Weasel with me. Now!" I order. They don't fight it. We body flicker towards my den… but…

No… no…! Kami-sama! No!

Chouji's on the ground, a sword sticking out of his back. There's some kid with him, but I don't recognise him at all. I'm on Chouji before the kid even notices there's company. I remove the sword, already flitting through the handsigns for Mystic Palm. I'm cursing this idiot worse and more violently every second.

I don't have the chakra anymore to properly deal with this. I've popped too many soldier pills for the day as well. Well, I guess I'm just going to have to push beyond what's healthy and sane.

Fox is behind me in an instant, thank Kami-sama! "Fox. A little help?" I feel his hand on my shoulder in an instant, my body suddenly overflowing with chakra. Jeez, that boy's still got so much!?

It takes me almost five minutes, but I stop the bleeding, and I do what I can to reconnect his spinal chord as well – the fifth patient that needed this today alone! He's not out of the woods, but he's not dying on me either.

I unseal a stretcher and put my patient on it. "We'll carry the boy." Weasel offers. I nod, strapping Chouji in carefully.

"Be gentle with him. I will kill you for him." I warn only once. They pair of them nod seriously. They understand what this means, and they know I mean it.

8-8

Back at Checkpoint Alpha once again. I arrive just in time for another round of 'What's up, Doc?', and I really wish these retards would stop trusting me so much! If it wasn't for Fox-nii, I'd have passed out hours ago. He's offered six Chakra Transfusions by now, and it isn't even healthy to do two.

My body is NOT happy with me. But there're lives to be saved.

"Oi, who're the kids?" I look to Rabbit, who's here because her wounds reopened again. She's looking to Chouji and the kid that was with him – obviously Fox-nii refused to let him stay in a warzone alone.

"None of your business." I tell her, beckoning to her. She comes over to me, letting me reclose her wounds once again. "You guys really shouldn't keep going back out there. Wounds shouldn't be reclosed this often."

"Someone's gotta do it." Rabbit says, shrugging. I don't argue with her. "Besides, you look dead on your feet, but you keep patching us up." I groan, but don't disagree.

"If you idiots would stop reopening your wounds, I wouldn't have to." They don't argue with me. "Fox, blindfold the kid. I don't want one of our own to be dragged with half a mask and get outed to an outsider."

Neither the kid nor Fox-nii complains. The other Anbu nod, grateful. "Yo, Wolf, when this is over, I'm treating you to all the dinners you want!" Rabbit tells me.

"Thanks. I'm not into girls though." I tell her, a teasing smile in my tone.

"That's not what I'm offering." She says, obviously blushing. "Besides, I'm not exactly into girls either." I shrug, not caring.

"Whatever." I try not to roll my eyes, grateful her wounds are closed once again. "Rabbit. I need you to stay here. Those wounds won't close again, so I need to wrap you up the old fashioned way. Weasel, Badger, you two are the best rested here. Take Rabbit's place for a bit." The pair nod, body flickering back out into the fray. I pray they'll be safe.

Rabbit takes off her flak jacket and lifts up her shirt to expose the area I need. I nod, grateful she isn't fighting me – that's just be too bothersome for words. I unseal the disinfectant and gauze I'll need and set about dressing the decoration of pink new skin that just keeps reopening time and time again.

"So, who's your trainer?" Rabbit asks, obviously just trying to kill time. She doesn't make a sound when the disinfectant touches her skin – I know how painful that is, so I'm impressed.

"Dog is my trainer, Frog is my captain. I'm on Team Xi." I say, wondering about that for a long moment. It's 'Xi' right?

"I see. I haven't seen him at all today. Where's he hiding?"

"Rehab. He's one of the idiots I keep having to put back together." I say, smiling a little as I wrap her middle in gauze and a prayer that she stays in one piece.

"Sounds like him. He and Cat were always getting themselves messed up during missions. Then again, they always seem to survive it." Rabbit sounds amused.

I snort. "Cat, huh? I've seen him around. Never knew he was a heavy hitter."

"You're new, so I can't say I'm surprised. Cat, Tiger and Snake are the only people Dog teams up with." Rabbit informs me. Snake would probably be Mitarashi. Tiger… I think that's the purple haired one. I can't remember her name right now – too tired to care.

"Team Rho, I'm guessing?" I ask, mostly for confirmation. My mind seems to be a bit foggy right now. And my eyes don't seem to want to focus at all.

"Nn. You're shutting down on me aren't you." Rabbit asks.

"Nn… Sorry."

"Don't be. I'll take over for you here. Rest, Wolf. You did good."

8-8

End Chapter 49

8-8

A/N: I know it might seem like I made Aya and Naruto appear all badass and everyone else pathetic by comparison. However, keep in mind that the mistakes only start being made once you're tired. Those Anbu have been at it for HOURS, and Aya's only been in the fray for two hours by comparison. Everyone starts out at the top of their game, and the Anbu that keep coming back in pieces are not at the top of their game; they just refuse to give in if they can help it.