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 54 – Mission? Yes, please.

8-8

Momochi Zabuza. Yuki Haku. Mitarashi Anko. Hyuuga Hitomi. And myself. With a little luck, we should be overkill for this mission. Still, better safe than sorry.

"Oi. Imouto-chan. I'm coming." Shika-nii?

"Wait. You're actually volunteering to tag along for a troublesome mission?" I ask, wondering about him.

"Don't remind me. But the fact is, Chouji asked me to." I roll my eyes. It figures Chouji would ask someone he trusts to bring me home safe.

"Whatever. Just make sure you keep up, Shika-nii." I try to act indifferent, but honestly having him along increases our odds of success, no matter how lazy he is. "Mom, think you can handle things here while I'm gone?"

"We'll be fine sweetie. Asami already added me to the security matrix, so I can come and go as I please." Mom says, smoothing Shika-nii's hair. She's obviously proud that her 'baby boy' is stepping up to the plate to take care of me – it's just something she'd gush about. "Oh, I can't believe my baby's all grown up, demanding missions and trying to take care of his little sister. I'm so proud."

She hugs Shika-nii, completely ignoring the 'troublesome' he's muttering.

"Shika-chan… you sure you can even keep up?" Momochi-san asks, obviously annoyed I didn't shoot him down.

"Only one… Mom, please… only one way to find… troublesome. Mom, my pouch is properly packed. Only one way… Troublesome woman, even if I don't have something Aya's used to you nagging her so she'll have at least three spares." Shika-nii is taking the brunt of mom's… love. So I might just get away unscathed this time. He looks to me, eyes begging for some backup.

"Hey mom, wasn't daddy talking about some diplomatic mission to Sand to discuss their surrender?" Mom freezes mid sentence. And without a sign she was even there a second ago, she's gone. "Sorry, daddy. You'll just have to take one for the team."

Everyone gets a laugh out of that.

I go over my equipment one last time. I'm in my Anbu uniform, as is Rabbit, as is Snake. Momochi-san, who's a 'trainee', has been dubbed Pig. He wasn't impressed. He tried bargaining for others too. Bear (already taken), Boar (already taken), Elephant (better than Pig, but still already taken), Polar Bear (not an Anbu sanctioned codename). He was even desperate enough to ask for Skunk (which is also taken). So no, he's stuck, at least for now, as Pig.

Haku's also a trainee, but she rather likes being called Penguin. She's actually applying for Anbu Medic trainee, but Dragon hasn't approved yet.

Shika-nii would stick out like a sore thumb on this team, so I ask the others if they would tolerate him wearing my old mask. They tell me plainly he's not Anbu, but are willing to accept him on my behalf. Snake dubbed him 'Pup', just to remind here what his position on the team is.

Anyway, equipment. I have my kodachis strapped to my forearms, but out of the way of the seals on my gloves. The scroll to summon Sasuke, Naruto and Asami is strapped to my lower back – I might need it, considering Naruto and Asami left an hour ago. I have my new wakizashis on my back, both grips peaking up over my left shoulder. And I hand my tanto to Pup, so he won't stick out too much. Snake asks if she can borrow a few weapons again, but I ask her why she bothered to bring back the last ones – I haven't asked for them and I wouldn't care if she kept them. She grins, going into the cache and selecting whatever toys she thinks might be fun.

"Oi, Wolf. Seriously, I'm grateful. But a pink tanto?" Pup complains. I groan, snatching my tanto back from him. I motion for him to come with me, and I lead him into my bedroom. I open my private cache, placing my tanto where I'll know to find it.

"Take what you need." I tell him. He looks around, finding all kinds of swords of varying lengths, and some interesting smaller blades. I think about it again. No, I like having my tanto on me. So I seal it in my glove for safe keeping.

"What about these?" He asks me, picking up a pair of trench knives with the blade almost as long as his forearm. "I've seen Asuma-sensei use something similar. I should be able to pull this off."

"Suit yourself. I don't really care for them, but they're also from a chakra conducting metal, so I didn't want to leave them lying around." I tell him. He takes his time strapping them to his back in a way he feels comfortable with – lower back, for some reason. I don't care, it's his party.

With nothing else to do, I make a round, telling my patients to be good, telling the kids to train hard (and Katsuo to not let that stupid scene from yesterday bug him), telling Yasu-nee we'll be back soon, and reminding the Anbu Operatives that they should bring their own sake and stop leeching off our stock. And we head out.

8-8

We make it to the gate quickly enough, I suppose. Pup doesn't have trouble keeping up, but Karin will certainly slow us down. It's universally agreed on that Pig will have to carry her – he's the only 'big, strapping man' on the team, and he's the lowest ranking Anbu Operative. Pup doesn't count. And no one wants to bog poor Penguin down. So yes, on a female dominated team, Pig is the bag boy.

Once we sign out, which Snake takes care of, Pig takes the lead. It makes sense, seeing as he's carrying our 'guide'. We leave at noon, more or less –after having an early lunch of course– and we keep running until long after sunset. Pup isn't wiped out, but he certainly isn't happy either.

Karin, on the other hand, is dead tired. Being carried must be hard on you.

We have a simple dinner and a half hour break. Then we start back up again and run until about midnight. "I'll take first watch." Pig announces, acting like he's in charge. I roll my eyes, signing to Snake and Rabbit to let him have his fun. Rabbit's shoulders are shaking a little, but Pig doesn't seem to notice.

"Oi, Pig. What about Bull? Did you ask about Bull?" I tease, wondering if I can rile him up a bit before falling asleep.

"No, and I don't want it." He drones. I shrug, pretending I don't care. We each pick a sturdy looking branch, but Karin looks like she wants to complain. "Oi, I don't care what you have to say about it. We're not making camp."

#Pig suits him.# I sign to Rabbit, making sure my hand is hidden from his view. Rabbit snickers again, but looks away when Pig looks to her, curious about her reaction.

"Oi, Wolf, you talking about me?" Pig asks.

"Me?" I ask, all hurt innocence. "I would never."

"Uh huh." He isn't buying it, seeing as Rabbit is fighting to breathe normally.

Having found a comfortable looking branch, I make myself at home. This isn't the first tree I've slept in, and it won't be the last. Pup seems to be having trouble getting comfy though. "Oi, Pup, come up here. That branch will drive you nuts if you try sleeping there." I tell him. He's slow to react, but he eventually agrees with me and joins me. He leans against me, so I wrap my arms around him to make sure he doesn't fall off our branch in his sleep or something. I kind of like this arrangement; he's warm. I'm asleep in no time.

8-8

We're up at dawn once again. We wash down quickly, have breakfast, and see to our needs. I end up having to explain to Pup about the procedure of a wash down, which I don't mind. He's smart enough to get it on the first try.

Once we're all set, we're off once again. I smirk, noticing that Pig has to carry Karin bridal style, seeing as his back's a bit… full carrying his blade. I spend the first hour wondering why he would bother with a mask, if the blade immediately identifies who he is, but eventually decide it just isn't worth bringing it up.

We stop around lunch, do the usual routine, and we're off again. We make it to the border by sundown, but this time, Pig suggests we call it a night. Foreign Anbu? Yeah, no. The quicker we get in and out the better I think.

"I say we keep moving. No matter what time we travel, we'll meet resistance if we're spotted. At night we're more likely to go unnoticed." I point out. They think about it for a bit, before nodding. We head out not ten minutes later.

Around midnight we stop again.

"How much further to your village?" I ask, curious and trying to kill time while I look for a comfy branch again.

"Not much further. Maybe four hours? Five?" Karin sounds uncertain. Not that I'd be any better. My sense of direction hovers between bad and horrible, so it's not like I have any right to complain.

I once again call my brotherly blanket to come join me. He doesn't seem to mind this time. "You get some rest, Pig. I'll take watch." Snake offers.

8-8

We make it to the Village Hidden in the Grass the next, just after nine. At least, I think this is the Hidden Grass… It looks more like a warzone than anything. I groan. Of course a mission I'm on has to go from simple to complex at the drop of a hat. I take a deep breath, trying to locate out target.

"One and a half kilometres that way." I point. We head out immediately. We find a redhead with what looks like civilian clothing tending to the injured in the weirdest way. She let's them bite her.

"Mama! No! There's too many, it'd kill you!" Karin shouts, drawing attention to us. I roll my eyes. Emotions are dangerous in situations like this. In a heartbeat, six shinobi surround us.

"Oi, don't you think you guys have had enough casualties for one day?" I ask, waving the idiots off. I walk over to the woman, hating what I see. "You're in no state to tend to anyone. Let me take over. You rest." The woman looks hesitant, but nods when I activate the Mystic Palm jutsu and start tending to the next patient in line. Penguin is quick to lend a hand as well. She can't use the Mystic Palm, but she's no slouch in her medic training either.

Seeing us tend to their wounded, the shinobi stand down, but don't back off. "What are you doing here? We didn't expect aid form Konoha." One of them says.

"We weren't expecting to offer it. We're here to escort Uzumaki Karin to her mother." Snake answers. Pig wants to, knowing him, but his mask identifies him as lower in status – no one would take him seriously. "What happened here?"

"Sound blindsided us. We didn't know we were under attack until it was too late." The man explains.

"Sound still has enough numbers for this?" Pup asks, wondering about that. "That makes no sense."

"You mean from the invasion from two weeks ago? Well, they didn't seem to notice." The man says, annoyed.

"You misunderstand. We wiped out more than seventy percent of their forces. That means they held back." Pup analyses.

"Or that the thirty percent that survived was the top thirty percent." Snake adds her two cents. "Any intel you're willing to share with us?"

"Yeah. They come in waves, taking anyone they please. We've survived four waves already."

"So this isn't the true village then. Just an outpost." I guess, laying my latest patient on the ground. "Sound isn't stupid enough to attack a hidden village in that way. But if they see your defences as subpar, they'd ravage you time and again."

"Maybe it is." He says vaguely. I shrugs, not caring. This isn't my fight.

"When would you expect the next wave?" Snake asks.

"There's no pattern. So we don't know." The man claims, but I don't buy it. There's something going on here. Something that just doesn't sit right with me.

"We need to get the injured out of here. There's no other option than to retreat." I say, already working on the eighth patient.

"We have reinforcements en route. We just need to hold out for another day." The man explains.

"A day? As in twenty-four hours? Where are your reinforcements coming from? Cloud!?" I shout angrily. They don't know when the next wave will hit. The only medic I've seen is catatonic. And I see only six shinobi. They won't make it to sunset.

"We can only deal with the hand we've been dealt." The man intones.

"Pup. Get those gears oiled up and churning. I'm not going to lose this many of my patients." I demand.

"I need to know about the enemy if I'm to come up with a plan." The Grass shinobi consider it.

"Fine. It's not like we have anything to lose."

8-8

"Oi, you guys suck." Pig announces after hearing that Sound only ever sends ten shinobi do wreck havoc.

"Not necessarily, Pig. From what they've said there are at least two bloodline limit users. Those are always troublesome to counter. And it doesn't help that they take the injured. That's how they maintain their numbers. Send an elite team to kidnap and coerce them into joining them or dying. It's no wonder their numbers are so impressive for a new village." Pup analyses, his brain working in overdrive.

"…" I can tell Pig wants to lean into the people he sees as pathetic. But, Snake's glaring at him. He'll play nice for now.

"The point is. We can't defend the injured and deal with the attackers. They have a plan. Take out the strongest, take the middle and the promising youths with them." Pup is thinking.

"Oi, listen. This is our village, we're not leaving." The man –the spokesman it seems– announces, sounding annoyed.

"Hnn. We should get going." Pup-nii… you are soo not suggesting what I think you're suggesting!

"Why is that?" Snake asks cautiously.

"Because there are no reinforcements. They're saying that to see if we'll stay to help them survive another day. It might not seem like much, but it's more than they have now. They know the next wave will be their last." Pup explains seriously. The six shinobi look away, not denying it. "So our best option is to take who we can and leave. I mean, think about it. They lied about that, what else are they lying about?"

"So they were going to force Uzumaki-san to heal their forces until she collapsed or died. And use the revived shinobi to fight back during each wave." I sum it up. "Is that it?"

Karin tenses, holding her sleeping mother close to her.

"We are Grass. We live and die as Grass Shinobi." The man says, stubborn as sin. "You are Leaf. This isn't your place to live or die."

"…" I look around, seeing dozens of injured that won't survive another wave of attacks. A year ago, I would have stayed, defended them to my last breath. Now? I can't. I have too much at stake to I die here. I have patients that need my care. I have two sisters to provide for. I have to… have to dance with Chouji on my next birthday.

"Do me a favour? Take whoever you can carry. Take them to Konoha with you. If we survive, we'll come find you." The man says, his tone sincere.

"Daddy, no!" A girl runs up to him. She's about my age. "I know what you're doing! You're going to make me go with them! I can still fight! The village will send reinforcements!"

"I know you can. That's why I want you to go with them. They'll need someone strong to help them defend our wounded." The man says, petting the girl's head.

"I think you're forgetting something important. We can't just waltz into Konoha with another village's wounded. We'd need permission for that." Snake points out.

"Given that there's two Uzumakis amongst them. Yes, you can." The man counters. "Don't lie to me, I know you came here to convince the woman to return to Konoha with you."

"… We can't even carry that many." I add my two cents, hating myself for it. "I'd take them all if I could."

"I know you would. You helped without hesitation, even when we were hostile towards you." He says compassionately. "Please. Take as many as you can."

"I can carry one." I offer, turning to Snake.

"… Wolf which of them are stable enough to transport like that?"

"Snake… no. I'm not choosing." I say, on the verge of tears. "Don't make me feel like I choose who lives or dies."

"I'm not saying that. I'm asking which of them is stable enough to survive travelling like that. I need a medic's professional opinion. And you are our medic. Focus."

"If they're breathing, then I promise you they're safe for travel." I say.

"Good. We move out now. Everyone pick one you know you can carry. And no, Karin, you are not picking your mother. You can't hold her weight. I'll carry her."

"Wait! I have the Prisoners' scroll! I can seal up to ten people that way!" I unseal the scroll from my glove. Asami said I can seal it away again even if it's full, so there's no added weight! I walk up to Karin and her mother, unroll a section of the scroll and seal the elder Uzumaki away. I then walk up to the more dire patients, sealing them away as I go. Then I pick up a little boy – he's maybe six years old. There's no way I'm leaving him here.

"You'll bring back out mommy when we get there, right?" The boy asks.

"Yes. I'll take care of both of you, I promise."

We gather who we can. And I scan the remaining shinobi one more time, before we head out, deciding to take the long way around to avoid the Sound shinobi if we can help it.

"Oi. You idiots better hurry up and come to Konoha to claim these people! I'm not in the mood to take on more patients you know!"

I almost don't hear it, but… I swear the words 'be safe' reach my ears.

8-8

It's slow going, seeing as Karin was slow before, but now she's also weighed down with a toddler in her arms. Still, we do what we can. We feed them what we can. Haku and I take turns healing what we can.

The wounds on their heart are not so easily healed though.

As we make ourselves comfortable for the night, my ears pick up sniffling and quiet cries… hearts yearning for those we left behind.

Then, the next morning, I smell six Sound shinobi coming to great us, just as we're ready to set off. "Incoming. That way, six scents. Each jounin level."

"You know what?" Pig says. "I'm glad those idiots are coming."

"Pig…"

"We can't outrun them, Snake. Not unless we leave even more behind. And Wolf will be the one to kill you if you suggest it. So, that means fighting is the only option. If one of you has a better plan, I'm all ears."

Snap!

I make two Divine Hands and arm them with kunai. If anyone wonders what my vote is, it's on them.

"Oi, girl. What's your name?" I ask the girl, the daughter of the 'spokesman' from yesterday. Her silver hair is as long as mine, but her grey eyes are a little unnerving with that ripple pattern in them.

"Ryuuzetsu." She says.

"Too long. Tsu, you any good with a blade?" I ask her.

"Nn. Kunais and short swords. Tantos especially." She answers.

"You got a problem with pink?" She looks at me funny. I put the boy down, unseal my pink tanto and toss it to her. "Chakra conducting, but this material doesn't work well with fire or water release. I like that blade, so you better not plan on breaking it." She nods, unsheathing the blade and swinging it to get a feel for it.

"Oh, isn't that cute. They think they can take us." The Sound shinobi announce their arrival.

They're here to talk? They want us to gently hand over our patients, no doubt. Well, they're sorely mistaken if they think I'll allow it.

"Look, we've got no beef with Konoha. We just want them." The big one – looks like he an orange Mohawk sort of hairstyle. Whatever. "If you walk away, we'll let you."

"Wolf, you're on defence. Ryuuzetsu, you're her backup. Pup, you're tactical response." Snake orders. I grin, knowing that I can defend and attack at the same time – aggressive defence. I'm a wall with teeth.

"The one there with the six arms. He's the only bloodline limit user with them, he uses some weird sticky goo. The big one is an earth release user, but focuses on taijutsu. The one with two heads… those are twins that can come apart and act separately. The others are all new, they'll be in top form." Tsu updates us. I nod, grateful she's got a level head on her shoulders.

"You guys pick a corpse already?" Snake asks, unsheathing the dual butcher blades she's taken a liking to.

I motion for all the Grass people to get behind me and stay behind me. I then kneel down and place my right hand on the ground to make sure I can keep track of everyone at once.

Pup and Tsu flank me. And Pig decides we're as ready as we're going to be, so he grabs his blade and vanishes. The next thing I notice is a Sound shinobi on the ground in pieces. Not the ones Tsu mentioned, but that's okay. One less to worry about at any rate.

The one with six arms tries engaging Snake, Pig takes the big one that tried to talk us into abandoning these people, and Penguin acts as Pig's backup. Rabbit takes the twins. And me?

Snap!

I'm sending Sound balls to ruin those Sound shinobis' day. "AHHHHH!" One of them screams, clutching their now bleeding ear, before doubling over to puke up something vital. Rabbit slices him in half before he even notices what's going on.

Before long, it's just the three Tsu warned us about – they're strong, I'll give them that. But, we now outnumber them. And I'm still flinging Sound Balls at them every chance I get.

The big one focuses on something, but I get him right in the ear as he pauses. Pig cleaves him in half before we find out what he wanted to do. The last two see their ally go down, and suddenly a tattoo like thing crawls over their face. They're still moving as that happens, so I miss with my next Sound Ball. Penguin, however, isn't taking any more chances.

"Pig!" She requests, and Pig focuses his Water Release: Wild Water Wave right at the remaining two. Then Penguin grabs at some of the water? Oh CRAP! The water's freezing! She uses some kind of ice based jutsu? Cool! She's mostly only focused on stealth and her senbon with me!

The two Sound shinobi notice as well, and they both substitute, but I feel where they are and I get them both –technically all three of them– with my Sound Ball. The one with six arms drops to his knee, and Snake takes him out just as his skin starts darkening.

The other one(s)? He seems more or less fine. Pig tries to cleave him in half, but he splits instead. The two-headed one is not two halves of a shinobi with some black thing forming the other half.

Oh? That's interesting. Snake doesn't seem to think so though. And Rabbit… she's getting annoyed with this one – she's been poking and stabbing but from the frustration, it looks like the chakra pathways keep moving around or something.

Hmm. I have an idea!

I focus on two jutsus at once. The Substituion and Sound Realease: Acidic Screech. The second Rabbit is in the right position, I substitute with her and unleash the Acidic Screech. Even if those pathways move around, or whatever, if you damage everything then it won't matter. The half a shinobi screeches in pain, so I substitute with Rabbit again, and she cuts him into little bite size pieces. The other one loses his cool, seeing –what seems to be– his twin die. Pig and Snake take advantage and he's in pieces just as quickly.

I place my hand to the ground, wondering if we got them all. "I sense nothing!" I give them the heads up.

Rabbit focuses as well. "Same. We're clear."

"Then let's get moving. I'm not in the mood to wait and see if anyone is coming to check on these idiots." Snake announces. We all nod, gathering our people – and Pig collects the heads of the Sound corpses, just in case.

We move out not ten minutes later.

8-8

When we stop for lunch, Ryuuzetsu plops down next to me. "Here." She hands me my tanto.

"Give it to me when we make it to Konoha." I tell her, offering her a rations bar and a bottle of water. She seems unsure, but doesn't fight me.

"Thank you." She says, an odd emotion playing out in her eyes.

"For what?"

"For trusting me enough to have your back."

I snort. "I trust you to protect your people." I tell her honestly, look up at the clouds. Pup-nii comes and plops down beside me so I hand him his lunch as well.

"You know, Wolf. You're troublesome when you lie." I swat his arm. Why is he calling me out on this now? "Ryuuzetsu is looking for a friend. You're turning her down. Why?"

Because her father will want her back and she won't deny him. I'm not you, Shika-nii, I can't watch people walk away from me and not care. "We all have reasons."

"Ah. In that case, Ryuuzetsu, she doesn't allow just anyone to even touch her weapons. Eh, Snake? She has to care enough to be prepared to lose that weapon if it means seeing you again. And just so you know… that tanto was a birthday present."

I swat him a few times, harder each time. "Couldn't just call it troublesome and be done with it?"

"Not this time, Wolf. Sometimes I have to protect you from you." He says, eating his rations bar without a care.

"Whatever." I take another bite. "You seem to like those blades." I say, hating that I can hardly see with my mask tilted upward slightly. Still, I have my hand on the ground, and I'm sniffing to track around us. We're good.

"Thinking on bugging you to keep them, to be honest." He admits.

"They're yours. But only if you stop bugging me so much!"

"Then I'll just have to ask mom and dad to bug you about giving them to me." He counters.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh?" I groan.

"Traitor! And after I got her off your case when we were leaving!?"

"You did that to save yourself from being next."

"… Irrelevant."

"No it isn't."

"Oh yeah? See if I don't wait until she's done with you next time then."

Ryuuzetsu giggles, obviously enjoying this meal's complimentary entertainment. "Wolf?"

"What is it?" I ask, annoyed with him.

"… Help me train when we get home?"

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"I knew you two were siblings!" Ryuuzetsu announces, laughing at us. I ignore her, so does Pup-nii.

"I… don't like how I couldn't help back there."

"Idiot." I swat his arm. "We'd have stayed in Grass if you hadn't caught Tsu's dad in his lie. What then? You think anyone here would be happy to die? To be a burden when splitting up might well have given those left behind a fighting chance?"

"… sorry…" Ryuuzetsu says, fighting back the tears.

"For what? For your dad loving you enough to lie to protect you? To do anything he could to keep you safe? You'd be as big an idiot as this guy here if you think I blame him for that." I swat Pup-nii again, just to prove my point.

"Is that a yes you'll help me?" Pup changes that subject.

"Silly question. Of course I'll help. Be warned though, I won't be gentle." I say, meaning it. "And you're going to need those blades if you want to keep up."

"…" Ryuuzetsu works her mouth, obviously trying to say something, but I don't know what. "Do you think… daddy will…?"

"…I don't know your father." I say, my tone far more serious this time. I look up at the clouds, taking a bite of what is left of my meal. "But I know my… our dad well enough, so I think I can speak for a shinobi who loves his daughter. He won't give up easily. And he'll fight far beyond his limits to make sure he sees you again. If there is any chance at all, he'll find it." I don't sugar coat it –seeing as I don't know what the man is up against– but I don't want to crush her hopes either.

8-8

We make it to the Konoha without another major incident. If you don't count Pup and me squabbling like we're siblings or something. Penguin had a few… exchanges with Pig as well, but I'm not sure if that's a regular thing with them.

All in all? It was the time off I needed – other than the combat, which really wasn't all that bad all things considered.

So when we get to the gate, and we announce we have Grass refugees that Grass should be coming to claim… what happens? We're forced to make a camp for them just outside of the gate. I roll my eyes, hating people so much right now. At least there are doctors en route to help if they can.

I unseal all ten of the patients in my scroll, helping them all get comfortable. Karin is especially happy to see her mother, and immediately informs the guards that she and her mother wish to join Konoha – to rejoin the Uzumaki clan.

"Oh, and who of the Uzumaki will vouch for you?" She's asked.

"I suggest you back off. I know this girl and her position among the Uzumaki was assured before she even left these gates." I vouch for her. "Her mother's as well."

"Oh? And where was she staying then? I haven't heard about-"

"I will warn you one last time, chuunin Kamizuki. Her place is assured. The Uzumaki, the Uchiha, the Yuki and the Namiki will each vouch for that." I grind out darkly. "Back off."

The silence that follows is deafening. "Oi, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying that I didn't know the Uzumaki were a clan."

"Hnn!" I huff turning my back on him. Uzumaki-san stirs, but doesn't wake up.

"Izumo-kun… I think you just got burned." The other gate guard teases.

"Shut it, Kotetsu."

The doctors and hospital personnel arrive, so it's time for our farewells to the Grass party. Ryuuzetsu walks up to me, her eyes a bit watery. She hands me my tanto. "Wolf… Thank you."

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you." She hugs me, out of the blue. It takes me a second to even register what's going on, but I do hug her back. "Be safe, you hear me?"

8-8

End Chapter 54

8-8

A/N: I had considered making this an epic battle, and force Aya well beyond her limits, but frankly she knows her luck and she isn't in a position to take risks, not with Sasuke needing her as his lifeline. Now, I believe Aya had some insanity to get back to?