I found myself panting as I stared into the deadened eyes of Ieshi Maku. My latest mark was a missing-nin from Suna, one of the last recorded survivors from a small clan. His clan had been almost annihilated by order of the Kazekage when it came to light that their kekkai genkai was only fully realized through a very specific set of rituals. A clan that gets power through self-mutilation, trust betrayal, and- very occasionally- cannibalism was bad press for any village. In an age were the world was already one kunai short of war, clients were few and far between and no amount of bad press was allowable. As a result, the Ieshi clan was scattered to the wind.

Ieshi Maku was recorded in the Bingo Book as an A-ranked missing-nin but, given the trouble he had caused me, he was definitely bordering S-rank. Though he specialized in ninjutsu, specifically wind, he didn't survive this long by slouching off in his other abilities. The fact that he survived so long despite being blind in one eye and missing the index and pinkie fingers on his left hand thanks to the rituals of his clan only spoke more of his ability to punch his way out of trouble.

I wasn't the first hunter to try to take Maku down but I was the last. For some reason, however, he wasn't too keen on the idea of being taken down. Unfortunately for him, I was rather insistent.

"Masochistic bastard," I said with a soft sigh, finally able to just breathe. The fight had taken much more out of me than any in recent memory, earning me more than just a few scrapes, but I needed to get out of dangerous territory before anyone spotted me, injuries or no. I was closer to Konohagakure than I'd been in years, barely thirty miles from the walls, and I couldn't risk a misunderstanding. If anything, Jiraiya would be unbearable if I got myself dragged back to Konoha in chains after I specifically told him that I'd only return after the fifteen year period was up.

I sealed the missing-nin's body into one of the black labeled corpse scrolls I always carried with me now and prepared to get some more distance between myself and Konoha. Just my luck, however, I was joined in the medium sized clearing that had been created by Maku's wind techniques. I recognized the animalistic masks in a heartbeat.

ANBU. Shit!

None of the three made to attack or detain me and I sincerely hoped that they were waiting for me to talk instead of trying to figure out a battle plan.

"ANBU-san," I greeted, looking to the one in the middle, taking point. "Sorry for the clearing. Ieshi Maku-san wasn't very pleased to see me," I explained, holding up the corpse scroll for them to see. None of the ANBU made a sound. Tired of the one-sided conversation, I placed the corpse scroll back into one of my trench coat's many pockets and prepared to turn. But again, I wasn't so lucky to get a clean getaway.

"Uzumaki Suki, you have been banished from Konohagakure. Explain your presence so close to our village." The lead ANBU shunshined behind me, blocking my path with his tanto. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"ANBU-san, I would very much appreciate it if you lowered your weapon. I made no move against you and don't plan on attacking. I tracked down Ieshi Maku, a missing-nin from Sunagakure, to this clearing and had just finished battling him. If you had arrived ten minutes earlier, you could have seen him trying rather hard to kill me, if you couldn't tell by my various injuries. I defeated and killed him, sealing his body inside of a corpse scroll so that I can collect the bounty."

"Why did you stop Ieshi-san from going to Konoha? Perhaps he simply wanted asylum," the ANBU challenged in a monotone. I refused to lose my temper over this.

"This man was convicted by his home village of Suna on over twenty counts varying from sexual assault, homicide, aggravated assault, and cannibalism but escaped execution by intentionally chopping off his own finger and killing two medical nin, three orderlies, and two unarmed civilians in his mad dash from the hospital. I apologize if Konoha wanted this man as an asset but hutning down escaped criminals such as Ieshi has been my career for over a decade now. If Konoha is interesting in attaining assets such as Ieshi Maku, I recommend that it sends an alert to any active hunter nin to deliver the criminals directly to your doorstep. I'm sure then we could avoid these misunderstandings in the future."

"Or you could abide by the laws of your banishment and stay out of Hi no Kuni. By Konohagakure law, you are under arrest for-"

"Konohagakure's banishment laws grant allowance to banished parties to enter Hi no Kuni with the exception of a thirty mile radius surrounding Konoha in the course of business."

"Business," the ANBU repeated. "Not the murder of-"

"I am a trained kunoichi, not a civilian merchant. Bounty hunting is my business, ANBU-san. Now, can you please lower your tanto?"

His grip shifted but did not loosen. I could feel his eyes on me through his mask and I bit back a curse as his two comrades shunshined to my flanks, one already drawing kunai and the other shifting through hand seals.

There was no way I could win in this situation. Any move I make to defend myself would classify as a move against Konoha, meaning an extension to my banishment. Not defending myself against three ANBU and not getting myself killed would be difficult enough on a good day; today, just after a hard fight, roughed up, and running dangerously low on chakra, the odds were definitely not in my favor.

I could let them bring me in... Or I could fight, kill them, and frame Ieshi. In a sense, that was probably my best option; he was already convicted and accused of some much that another three deaths wouldn't surprise anyone and he was definitely strong enough to pull it off. The trouble was that I didn't know if I could bring myself to kill these ANBU.

I didn't have any more time to think, though, as I all but hit the dirt to avoid the tanto aimed at my neck. As I rolled away, creating a shadow clone some yards away to replace myself with and buy some distance, that thought stood out to me.

"Konoha prides itself on a lot of things. Something it abhors is senseless violence. You're going for the kill when I haven't done anything wrong and, if I had, the harshest punishment legally available for me would be execution by order of the Sandaime. Since none of you even mention Sarutobi... That conniving bastard!" I growled.

No Konoha ANBU would go for the kill, at least not a standard ANBU. That meant that these three were not standard ANBU. And I had thought I had seen the last of Root when I all but massacre them all those years ago.

"I guess Danzo never runs out of orphans to twist and bend into his own little army," I spat, disgusted. "Are the first graduating class since my banishment or has he been churning out puppets all this time?"

My opponents didn't answer but I didn't expect them to.

Them being Root gave me more options, though. I could defend myself against them simply because Danzo couldn't acknowledge their existence. If they died or were hurt, no one could know so how could I be punished for it?

I drew my own kunai, skillfully wrapping an tag of my own making about the handle and activating the timer with my chakra, throwing the kunai straight up into the air. I flew into hand seals as quickly as I could, knowing exactly how narrow my window was before-

I slammed my hands on the grass and symbols spread out in jagged lines that then bloomed into tiny, perfect circles that surrounded me protectively. Glimmering with blue and orange light, I was enclosed in a perfect bubble as the tag on my kunai finally activated, sparking violently before raining down arcs of blue and white lightning on the entire cleaning. I was exhausted by the barrier seal but, as the three Root dropped dead, it was well worth it.

I staggered away from the scene, trying to get out of the area before any real ANBU showed up to investigate. I made it almost fifteen miles before the black spots around my peripheral vision began to multiply, clouding over my vision, and the dull ache sharpened and spread throughout my body.

My body was beginning to shut down but I didn't have time to make camp. All I could do was fall against a tree and hope I was far enough away from that damn clearing as my pulse roared in my ears before there was nothing but the dark.