Ran laid on the floor of Naruto's apartment staring at the bottom edge of the cabinets of his kitchen. Her face was numb on the left side where it had been against the tiles since she'd been attacked. The one night, the very night, she wanted to salvage Sasuke and Naruto's friendship…this is what would happen. Despite the heat leaving her body she smiled. If this was going to be the way she died it would satisfy her. It was comforting while her breathing began to become shallower, that Naruto would be strengthening the bond of his friendship with Sasuke. If Naruto had been here with her it might have been him injured trying to protect her. She knew that the ANBU had not come for him, the target was definitely her, but Naruto would have intervened. She had promised Kakashi that Naruto wouldn't get hurt for her. She was glad she could keep that promise now.

It had been so quick. Normally she turned on the lights, checked the rooms, locked the doors, and put into place a sealing technique that only Naruto could walk through without noticing it. It would trip a sensor in her chakra that someone had come inside. This evening when she'd returned she had not checked anything. She'd gone into the kitchen to stand by the window overlooking the village to watch as Sasuke and Naruto walked away from the apartment. They're departure had been something nice to see. Sasuke was not always emotionally clogged with a stick up his ass. When he was around Naruto even he smiled. Naruto had hit him in the shoulder and she'd heard it. A slight shift in the air behind her and she'd begun to turn. She couldn't. A blade had pierced her chest extending from the front before the ANBU tore it back out. Ran had let out a small breath clutching her chest as the liquid spread. The ANBU walked in front of her, his birdlike mask mocking her.

"Orochimaru has been eliminated. Your service to the ANBU core is no longer needed." Of course her service wasn't needed. That meant termination. She was chockfull of village secrets and they couldn't have her blabbing to Naruto, a future Hokage, about the distrust the ANBU core had. She'd fallen to the ground as her body surged with pain and the will to fight. She couldn't fight. Her body wasn't responding to the thoughts she tried to send. It had been a direct hit. The ANBU vanished with the next gust of wind that blew in from the window.

Sasuke eyed Naruto lightly as they ate at the corner ramen shop. His friend had always been ridiculously loud and sloppy when eating. It was a minor annoyance he held for his friend. He smirked and shook his head trying to simply relax. However, there was something bothering him about tonight. It wasn't so much as something was overtly wrong but he didn't think the air felt right. He picked at the egg in his soup and furrowed his brow. He thought back to earlier that afternoon when Ran had talked to him so kindly. It amazed him at how easily she could interact with Naruto and because of her love for him she'd forced the interaction between himself and her. He glanced at Naruto sighing.

"You know…Ran is very sweet Naruto." He made a face and frowned looking at the raven.

"Kakashi sensei told me the same thing the other day. Why do you guys keep saying that." He said around a mouthful of ramen.

"She's the one who suggested we hang out tonight idiot." Naruto blinked putting his bowl down.

"She told me you asked." He shook his head.

"She said that we needed to spend some time together." Naruto smiled rubbing the back of his neck.

"I wish she would tell me the truth. She'd always doing stuff to help me out." Sasuke reached out and smacked him on the back.

"You don't question when a female gives you that kind of love stupid. You say thank you, hug her, and make her dinner." Naruto blushed laughing a little.

"Maybe I should grab her something on the way home." Sasuke nodded smirking.

Kakashi noticed that there was an awful lot of extra movement around the ANBU core base tower. It was unusual especially at this time of night for them to be so roused. Iruka was walking with him to turn in some school form reports. He watched as the smaller man eyed the ANBU outside suspiciously as well. One ANBU moved around the back of the building where a ROOT member met him appearing swiftly. Kakashi caught sight of a splattered pattern of red on his chest plate. It wasn't unusual for ANBU to return with battle blood but for some reason he couldn't place he didn't like it. Iruka made a face curling up his nose making the tiny scar there shift. He looked up at Kakashi.

"Don't they normally report in first?" he asked. He was right. ANBU reported to the Hokage before coming to the tower after a mission, so why hadn't this guy. Kakashi nodded curtly and put up a hand to stop his friend.

"Stay here…" he whispered and cloaked his chakra. He appeared in the trees behind the men intent to listen in on the conversation taking place.

"It's done." The man with blood spoke shortly.

"You got to her that easily?" the other ANBU said shocked.

"She was distracted watching Naruto leave the place. She barely even heard me." The ANBU sighed taking off his mask.

"Did you stay to make sure she died?" he asked.

"I made contact with the heart. She was breathing when I left but believe me, there wasn't a whole lot left." Kakashi froze. This "she" that they were speaking of could only be one person. There was only one female who would be distracted by watching Naruto do anything, even Sakura tried to ignore him most days. It's done. His heart faltered. They couldn't have. He stiffened and shifted his weight immediately racing towards the boy's apartment. By the time he threw open the door Ran felt her eyes fall shut. She hoped desperately that it wasn't Naruto. She didn't want him to find her like this. She felt hands turn her body shifting her weight upwards.

"Holy hell, Ran. Don't let go. I'm going to get you to Tsunade." Her breathing hitched and he saw blood trickle from her mouth and down her chin. "Please, Naruto would never forgive me for not getting you there in time."

Her eyes slid shut.