After some time gathering their strength, Shikaku addresses his remaining shinobi, "Is everyone rested, at least a bit? We have to reach the compound before sundown. Are you in any condition to travel?" Everyone nods in confirmation. They know their leader is protecting them. If they stay in the open it is likely for them to get ambushed again and everyone knows that they won't survive another one. Slowly they get on their feet. Some hiss in pain while others only grimace. Nayuki is pained by their suffering but knows she can't help them more than she already did because of her limited medical knowledge. She looks at their leader and waits for his signal to move out. Soon enough he signals them to move. The team moves on a much slower rate now, trying to move at this pace until reaching the compound. Nayuki curses her minimal knowledge of medical ninjutsu once again, 'If I just had more medical education. Even with all the hours training and helping out at the infirmary, I'm still not able to heal my team … Damn it all, it should have been a simple little mission. Why do all my missions go so wrong?' She has to think of her very thirst C-rank with Team 7. What Haku taught her and how even Zabusa had to admit how much Haku meant to him. The tears he cried and how carefully he reached out to the corpse of his companion. 'Back then I learned the dark side of being shinobi but also that friendship is true strength and never hate. Love is the solution to break the circle of hate. One day I will break that despicable circle. It's just too early. It's ….. Shit, how come I didn't realize that earlier?', Nayuki curses herself and stops.
"Shikaku! They are still tailing us and I fear they're gaining on us. You guys continue on – none of you is able to fight. I'll distract them long enough for you to get away and then I'll teleport back to you", Nayuki looks into Shikakus eyes and immediately spots the protest he wants to voice but stops him before he can start, "It's an order from your matriarch, Shikaku! Don't worry, I won't get hurt and will catch up to you soon" Everyone looks at her fearfully. They know that she is in the best condition of all of them but still to just let her stay behind doesn't feel right for them. Shikaku stares at her for a long moment before he nods his head in acceptance. He steps in front of her and pulls her into a hug, while whispering into her ear, "Don't die on us." He turns around and disappears with the team leaving her as sole fighter behind.
Nayuki takes a deep breath and begins her preparations. She places explosive tags all over the place. As soon as she has her chakra suppressed, she hides inside the trees. Her senses tell her that her enemies will arrive within the next minute and she observes the direction they come from. 'Maybe I can get them without having to step out of the shadows…', Nayuki muses to herself before laughing it off. No, Tajima Uchiha, won't fall for a simple trap like that. Her body is incredibly tense and pearls of sweat run down her temple. Even the birds seem to realize the dire situation and keep silent. Only the wind rushing through the trees can be heard as Tajima and his men enter the clearing. When the last of then has passed the first explosive seal, Nayuki swallows hard and activates them. A massive explosion catches the Uchiha off guard and kills eight shinobi on the spot, while another eight shinobi get hurt terribly. It comes to no surprise that Tajima is with neither group but one of the five shinobi who get away unharmed.
Tajima looks at the boy next to him and says, "Careful, son. It seems we are not alone. Come out! That's pretty impressive if I say so. I wasn't aware that that the Senju have shinobi that are stupid enough to stay behind on their own" Nayuki only scoffs inwardly, staying in her hiding place. Carefully she retrieves kunai with paper bombs attached from her kunai pouch, her eyes never leaving the enemy team. The survivors are getting back into formation trying to find her position. The youngest of them, essentially Tajimas son, looks immensely scared. Nayuki watches the boy with sad eyes. She sympathizes with him. 'Is this Madara? No, that's not possible; Madara is at the same age as Hashirama and not two or three years younger. Moreover Madara is a girl, although it's possible to cross-dress to protect her from the horrors of being a girl in war. Maybe that's one of Madaras brothers who got killed early in life. But if that is the childhood they lived through, I can understand Madara to have lost it later on. These horrors must follow someone forever. ….', Nayuki thinks to herself. Turning out her guilt she launches her kunai at the remaining shinobi to distract them. Another round of explosions goes off before Nayuki engages Tajima in a taijutsu battle. She attacks his head hoping to get an opening into his stance. However Tajima seems to read her mind and blocks her kick without giving her a chance to recover before he launches his own attacks at her. Most of the time she is blocking his attacks while avoiding attacks from his men. One particular hit aimed at her head could only be blocked at the cost of breaking her arm. While the adults fight the young Uchiha still stands completely still. The boy hasn't recovered from his shock. This is probably his first battle involving so many explosives, it's not like explosives are rare but in most fights explosives are not very profitable. Nayuki tries to avoid involving the child into the fights and lures the fighters away from the boy. Without even using hand seals Nayuki attacks her pursuer with Fuuton: Daitoppa. Most of the Uchiha can avoid the attack, only three of the seriously injured get blown away.
One of her chasers sneaks up from behind and catches her unaware and the hit throws her to the floor. Her vision blurs for a second, but she can avoid another attack barely. She kneels on the ground fixing her gaze on the angry Uchiha shinobi in front of her. Immediately Nayuki attacks with Suiton: Mizurappa and to get some distance between them. However they counter her attack with Katon: Dai Endan. Using the distraction of the newly made steam Tajima goes for another hit. Nayuki saw this coming and is ready to block him. However one of the younger members of Tajimas squad surprises her and lands a strong hit on Nayukis shoulder. The strengthened pain of her broken arm forces her to make some steps back and to fall on her knees again. For some moments the pain dulls her senses. Her enemies use this moment to surround her and one tries to attack on his own, however Tajima stops him. He turns to Nayuki and grins, "You are not just an average kunoichi am I right? Shikaku wouldn't have left you behind if you didn't have the power to order him so. You are the current Senju matriarch. Hn, I could do a lot terrible things to you but first I have to suppress your chakra or you will flee within seconds. Am I wrong?" Nayukis heart pounds rapidly. Sweat gathers on her forehead and runs down her temples and neck. "I don't know what you are talking about. I'm easily disposable. Although I could be the strongest fighter of my team and still haven't shown my full strength. Do the lives of your shinobi mean something to you? I could easily get rid of them", Nayuki answers him, but Tajima ignores her words. To give her statement more meaning Nayuki creates a Rasengan and sends an enemy shinobi flying, before she swiftly avoids an attack from behind. While trying to avoid and block the never ending series of attacks, she senses for any signs of her team. This is the distraction another attacker uses and nearly succeeds in placing a chakra suppression seal on her. Only nearly, in the last second she uses Kawarimi and changes place with the the Uchiha patriarchs son who now looks helplessly frightened without his chakra.
Tajima growls at the resistance Nayuki can still uphold and attacks her on his own. In her pain she is distracted enough for Tajima to land a blow. His knee connects with her stomach, before he slams her head into the next tree. Terrible pain curses through her body and trails of blood flow out of her mouth. He jerks her back by her hair and looks at her impassive. He sees that he succeeded in making her unfocused and tosses her to the floor before motioning one of his shinobi to place a chakra suppression seal on her. Nayuki knows that this is the maximum of time she can buy for her team and feels for her next Hiraishin seal. Her body aches and if her situation wasn't so dire she would like to lie back and take a nap before moving again. However, her unfocused gaze fixes upon an approaching figure. Immediately she focuses on the Hiraishin seal and can teleport a second before the seal connects with her body. For now she can relax though soon she has to move and get away before Tajima catches up to her again.
She closes her eyes and tries to calm herself down. Afterwards she checks her wounds. She turns the pain out after she assessed that none of her wounds is threatening or fatal. Finally, her vision isn't anymore blurry or unfocused. Now she can follow the others and try to catch up with them. Teleporting from one seal to another saves her a lot of time and decreases the chances of Tajima catching up once again. She knows that she got away barely and that it could have ended a lot worse than it did. Thankfully her first meeting with the legendary Tajima Uchiha ended the way it did. When her chakra reserves are strained, Nayuki continues on by jumping from one tree to another. After some time she can feel the signatures of her comrades again. Her tense muscles begin to ease at the familiarity of them and new strength arises. Within a few minutes she reunites with Shikaku and the others who immediately call for a break to care for her wounds.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Upon reaching the compound the team gets dismissed to go to the infirmary for medical treatments. Nayuki and Shikaku though have a report to make. Reassuring the shinobi around them that they are alright and will go to the infirmary after their report, Shikaku and Nayuki make their way through the crowd. Many of their colleagues try to question them about their mission, but they avoid answering the questions and the eyes of distraught families who lost members on this mission. Nayukis heart clenches in guilt to not have protected all of them. Shikaku lays his uninjured arm on her shoulder to comfort her. "We couldn't do more than we already did, you even more so", he whispers to her. A young woman runs up to them and throws her arms around Nayuki who's more than a bit surprised by that gesture. The woman immediately babbles her thanks to Nayuki for bringing her son back to her from of this disastrous mission. She tells her, "My name is Kaoru and I thank you with all my heart Nayuki-hime! If there is something you need, don't hesitate to approach us. I owe you the life of my son Yukimura. It's the least I can do for you!" "You don't have to pay me back! It's my pleasure to ensure the protection of our youngest members, Kaoru-san! Really, you owe me nothing!", Nayuki tells the young mother embarrassed. "Still, hime, if you ever need something our door is open for you", Kaoru insists before running off again. For a moment Nayuki and Shikaku stare after her before resuming their way to Butsumas office.
When they arrive at Butsumas office, they already hear the voices of their youngest team members. Hashirama, Yahiko and Yukimura are telling Butsuma everything they know about the mission and its wrong goings. Nayuki smiles at the worry she hears in the boys voices, especially Hashiramas. Nayuki opens the door without knocking while the boys demand to send someone out to look for them and says, "That's not necessary, we already arrived back. Don't worry!" Hashirama jumps at his mothers voice and runs to her giving her a hug. Nayuki winces because Hashirama doesn't seem to realize that his mother has an injured arm and hugs her with all his might. Silently he cries into his mothers' bloody clothes and hiccups, "I…I was so worried. You said that you would catch up to us but …..but you never came. And …. and we thought you might have died fighting the enemy" Nayukis eyes soften at her crying son, "Shhh, it's alright. We are back. I'm fine, my boy. I only need to give Butsuma my report and go to the infirmary but afterwards we can spend all the time you want together with your brother does that sound? Come on big boy, get going and greet your brothers will you?" Hashirama looks at Nayuki and smiles a teary but happy smile. While Nayuki wipes away his tears he tells her, "I'll hold you to that. I want to spend a lot time with you and my brothers after that disaster! Wait infirmary? Are you hurt? Is it bad? You're going to survive aren't you?" Nayuki can't help but laugh, "It's not that bad Hash! My arm's broken and I've got some bruises but nothing life threatening! Do you really believe I would be standing here if I was fatally injured? Give me some credit, would you son!" Hashirama looks one last time at his mother, a bit embarrassed, whispering a soft, "I didn't mean it like that" before bowing to his father and exiting the study followed by Yahiko and Yukimura.
After giving their report Butsuma dismisses Shikaku and catches his wife in an embrace – minding her injury – and kisses her. "I'm sorry. I was foolish enough to believe into our informants without checking them. It nearly cost your life, forgive me 'Yuki" "What really nearly cost me my life was my own stupidity 'Suma, so don't worry – there is nothing to forgive", Nayuki states while snuggling even more into Butsumas strong arms. Even if it's just for this moment Nayuki feels save. She forgets about the ever present threat of war and endless fighting.