Title: Night raid on Konoha

Rating: G, action

Pairing / Characters: Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Haruno Sakura, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Umino Iruka

Word Count: 1, 192 words

Warnings:

Summary:

A/N:

Half past eight to half past nine

'Shino! Where the hell is Hinata?'

Shino dodged a shuriken neatly, silently commanding the bugs to attack his opponent. As a black swarm enveloped the nin, he glanced at Kiba.

'I do not know. Hinata has become quite… withdrawn.'

'Akamaru!' Kiba roared. 'Get over here!'

Clasping his hands together in preparation, he growled 'Withdrawn? You mean since the Naruto thing? Yeah, well, I've tried talking – jujin bunshin!'

Immediately, a second Kiba stood beside the first, and Kiba grinned bleakly. 'but she doesn't want to talk to me. Gatsuuga!'

Tenten swore under her breath. Somehow, she had been separated from Neji and Lee, and was alone in the centre of three or four nins, all of whom were brandishing weapons. There was no time to play around with them, as much as she wanted to. Her team was somewhere out there, and she needed to end this fast. Reaching behind her, she pulled two scrolls out of her weapons pouch and knelt down, hands flying in the seals that would activate them.

Crossing her arms, she called out the jutsu that sent her scrolls spinning into the air.

Tenten jumped up into the centre of the scrolls, slamming her hand against them as they spun, sending a rain of metal onto the nins below her.

Their screams didn't even register with her, nor did the blood on the ground when she landed lightly.

'Fools,' she muttered, and grabbing her weapons, ran off to find Lee and Neji.

'The evacuation is underway, Tsunade-sama,' Shizune reported hastily. 'Iruka-sensei and Shikamaru's team are supervising the removal of civilians to areas of safety. Sakura's team is already performing triage on those who need it.'

'Does she have a backup team of shinobi?' Tsunade demanded.

Shizune shook her head. 'None that we could spare. They're on their own.'

'I'll go. I've had the itch to see what that little girl is capable of,' Jiraiya said.

Tsunade glanced at him. 'Shouldn't you be seeing to your own apprentice?'

Now the frog hermit laughed. 'Naruto is more than capable of looking after himself, particularly since he seems determined to prove himself to everyone.'

'Jiraiya – I'm sure I don't have to tell you to be careful,' Tsunade said calmly.

'This? child's play.'

Shizune watched as the two sannin leapt from the window, their voices raised in unison.

'Kuchiyose no jutsu!'

She ran to the window, watching as a frog went one way, and a slug another, before flying out the door.

'Konoha senpuu!' Lee shouted, kicking his opponent across the temple and sending him flying.

He landed on the rooftop, balanced lightly on the tiles and stood up to his full height, folding an arm behind his back.

'Bring it on,' he told the second man, who had more sense than his partner, and was watching cautiously.

Lee grinned. 'Are you actually afraid of me?' he asked.

Neji dropped down beside him. 'Don't taunt him too much, Lee. We don't know what he's capable of.'

'We can handle it.'

'That may be so, but we don't want to put him to shame, do we?'

The nin scowled. 'Brats!' he snapped, and leapt forward.

Lee bowed. 'All yours, Neji.'

Neji grinned. 'Thanks, I think. Hakke!'

Sakura glanced around her warily as she led her medical team into the heart of Konoha. Bodies were everywhere, and she counted at least half a dozen Konoha hitae-ates as she walked.

A groan caught her attention, and she stopped, kneeling down beside a young man who lay on his side, several shuriken protruding from his stomach. Sakura winced, and gently turned him over, seeing the leaf on his hitae-ate.

'Spread out, look for the wounded,' she ordered her team sharply. 'Heal whatever you can, but be careful! We're not safe yet!'

The young man grabbed her arm. 'Help me, please… help me… hurts…'

Sakura clasped her hands together. 'Please lie still, and try not to move.'

She laid her hands on his stomach, slowly healing the wounds, removing the shuriken as she did so. He hadn't moved, but his bright green eyes were focused on her face as the terrible wounds healed.

'Thank you,' he whispered hoarsely. 'You're an angel…'

Sakura's throat tightened. 'Hush now… you're going to be fine. We'll have you moved to a safe area in a few minutes.'

'Ah, Sakura.'

Sakura turned, glancing up at the tall figure on the frog.

'Need a hand?' Jiraiya asked.

She nodded. 'This man is wounded – he needs to be taken to a safe place.'

Jiraiya leapt to the ground, and gently picked up the young man.

'Tsunade's quite worried, Sakura. Be careful, please.'

'Always,' she said briefly, and got to her feet, her medical team awaiting further orders.

'Any more wounded?' she called.

'Nothing, Sakura-san,' Hideo answered.

'All right, let's move out!'

Iruka ran through the streets, a terrible weight lodged in his stomach as he flew towards the orphanage. The children had been forgotten in the carnage that had taken place in the last two hours, and he had seen more injured and wounded civilians and shinobi than he cared to.

Despite his frantic worry for the children, he laughed softly. Clearly, Konoha was once again a force to be reckoned with.

He was near the orphanage when a scream rang out. Without hesitation, Iruka changed course and found a young woman with two children huddled against a wall. A broken hitae-ate lay on the floor beside her, and Iruka didn't think twice about pulling a kunai and hurling it at the shinobi standing over them.

He turned, and Iruka straightened.

'Another one's crawled out of the woodwork,' the nin growled. 'This is becoming really annoying.'

'Speak for yourself,' Iruka said calmly. To the woman he said 'run! Take the children and go!'

'Like I'll let that happen!' the nin said, and brought the kunai he was holding down. Iruka threw himself forward –

And the kunai tore a gash in his dark green flak jacket, cutting into the skin of his shoulder where the young woman's face had been only seconds before. Iruka had gathered her into his arms, pressing her back against the wall, blocking the blow with his own body.

She lifted her head, her eyes wide, and he saw the panic in the grey depths.

'It's all right,' he soothed. 'Don't move, I'll take care of him…'

Iruka twisted, throwing up his right arm, dislodging the Kirigakure shinobi's grip on the kunai. Coming up off the ground, he pulled the kunai from his shoulder and threw it point first at the shinobi. It caught him low in the chest, and still moving, Iruka kicked him backwards.

His shoulder ached, but Iruka ignored it, and knelt down, pulling the woman to her feet.

'Did he hurt you?' he asked anxiously.

She shook her head, a faint movement in the darkness. 'N-no – but it's only thanks to you…'

Iruka chuckled. 'Ah, you give me too much credit. Come on, let's get you and those children to safety.'

'But you're injured –'

'This? It's nothing. Come now, we need to move.'

'H-hai…'