Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters, nor the story line, with exception of the characters you've never heard of.

Chapter 2.

"Stick to the plan, Chiro. Take Sen to Konoha Village where she will be safe." The woman, Ling said as she shuddered with concentration. She tried to prop herself up onto her elbow but she was failing to do so. In fact, she looked almost like she was going to fade in the mid air. "They will protect her there if you trust me to trust them."

Chiro shook his head as he hurried over to the cart and grabbed the lid of a large rice barrel. "What about you? We can't just leave you in their hands, Rin. They will kill you." He said as he pulled it off. And as soon as he did, the real Sen stood up in the barrel and looked around blinking away the bright light. But seeing 'Ling' on the ground, she gasped and did her best to quickly climb out of the barrel. "Rin! You're hurt!" She cried out almost falling off the cart, but Chiro caught her.
The clone shook her head as she winced. "N-no, I'll be fine. J-just go all right! Do not worry about me! Just..." But the jutsu finally fell and Ling, also called Rin vanished into a puff of smoke.

The young woman, Sen spun around and looked at Chiro with wide eyes. She was trembling from fear and sorrow as she grabbed the front of his shirt and held on. "Chiro! We have to go after her! We can't let her die!" She gasped, tears spilling down her fair cheeks.

Chiro shook his head as he grabbed her wrists and carefully took them away. "Lady Sen, we can't. Rin can take care of herself. She's a nin." He looked at the other three. "We have to go to her home village. We'll be safe there." He told them all.
"NO!" demanded Sen, stomping her foot like a child. "I demand that we go save Rin! She's my best friend!" She then fell to her knees and covered her face. "I...sob!...can't let her die!"
Chiro gave her a look of sympathy before bending down to one knee next to her and wrapping his arms around her petite body. "Sen, we must go along with the plan. You're in danger and Rin just risked her life to save yours. It would be an insult to her if we didn't do as she asked." He tightened his hold on her when she continued to cry. "We must go now before the Shadoai nin figure out her trap and come back after us."

Sen have another shaky sigh before nodding. "Very well, Chiro. Take me to the village. Then we will discuss the rescue of our beloved Rin." She told him as she looked up at him. Chiro sighed but didn't argue. He just stood up, helping her to her own feet. They, with their remaining three guards began hurrying down the road with only a few supplies. They believed the less supplies they had, the faster they could go. And hopefully, The Shadoai nin wouldn't catch onto Rin's plan just yet.

With the Shadoai band, the fake Sen had been tied up tightly and was slung over one of the men's back. She hadn't made any attempt to trying to escape, yet anyway. She wanted to wait till they were far away from the real Sen. All she did was listen to the bandits laugh about how easy it was to capture the infamous brat they've been sent out to capture.

And that was the problem with Sei Zangetsu.

Sei was actually pondering over how easy it had been to defeat 'Ling'. She wasn't really that easy to fight, though he was stronger than her in more than one ways. But there was something nagging at the back of his mind. Something was wrong and he knew it, but what was it? He knew that there was something missing and he was trying to figure it out. But it wasn't easy to figuring out. Until it actually hit him.
The Shadoai immediately halted in his tracks, throwing a fist into the air to announce the halt. His men quickly followed his order and waited for him to say something. But instead, Sei turned around and went over to the man who had 'Sen' before snatching her arm and dropping her to the ground.

"Ouch!" 'Sen' yelped as she hit the ground before glaring at her captor. "What is your problem, Sei Zangetsu?!" She demanded, trying to sit up.

Sei glared down at her as he grabbed her suddenly by the neck and shoved her back down onto her back. He ignored her painful yelp as she began to struggle against his grip. "Silence." He warned darkly. Without a word, he began fishing around in his travel pack for something. He pulled something out but didn't reveal it to 'Sen', only kept it hidden in his hand. "The thing that I know the most about you, Ling, is that you can use the Transformation technique to make yourself look like anyone you want."

"What are you talking about?! I'm Sen Zangetsu, you jerk!" The young woman cried out, though she was clearly worried.

But Sei shut her up as he tightened his grip on her and held up what it was in his hand. It was a needle with unusual liquid in it. 'Sen' seemed to guess what was inside it because she immediately tried to back away, but couldn't due to she was being pinned. Her eyes had grown very wide and she struggled against Sei's grip. "Take away the chakra, take away the disguise." Sei said coldly as he jabbed the needle into her chest.
'Sen' gasped in pain and continued to try and escape but she could hardly move. She was suddenly feeling more drained the more she struggled. She could almost feel whatever it was that Sei injected her with draining her chakra. But as she struggled in his grip, she began to change. Becoming someone completely different from how she looked like.

"Where is Sen, Ling?!" Sei asked darkly as he watched her disguise vanish.

Ling panted as she was slowly drained of her strength but then smirked once the transformation was complete. She was not Ling though. At least, not how she looked like before. Her hair was a light brown color, almost the color of ginger and her eyes were lighter brown. Two markings appeared on her cheeks, right under of her eyes, tattoos of lavendar colored rectangles.
"Sen is safe from you, Sei, that's where she is. You will never touch her." She said coolly.

Sei growled at her before he threw his fist into her face, making her cry out in pain. He then stood up and began kicking at her, beating her and cursing her very name. And Ling couldn't do anything but let him, due to her hands being tied up. "You! Stupid! Woman!" Sei yelled angrily at every kick then he jerked away from her and pointed at several of his men. "Go back to the cart and tear it to bits! Kill Chiro and the remaining men! If Sen is with them, bring her to me! Alive!" He roared.
Several shadoai bandits immediately ran off into the trees in black blurs. They did not want to see how far Sei would go to get rid of his rage. Not to mention, be the targets if he lost his temper even more.

"What about the imposter, sir?" Another bandit asked pointing at the gasping Ling. "Should I kill her?" He was already taking out a Kunai to slit her throat.

Sei shook his head as he glared down at Ling, who rolled over to look up at him, though there was still a lot of pain in her eyes. "No. We'll keep her alive until we get Sen. She'll be useful to us until then. I need something to take my rage out on anyways." he growled as he bent down and roughly grabbed Ling's arm. He yanked her to her feet, though she was having a hard time getting up.
"If...gasp! you h-hurt them, Sei...I-I swear to the Gods I will make y-you pay for hurting them!" Ling stammared with cold hatred towards this man. She ended up gasping again when Sei slammed his fist into her stomach, again making her double over. But she didn't go down for he was holding her up.
Sei shook his head as he held her tightly, glaring coolly at her. "You're so much more weaker than I am, Ling." he told her. "I've beaten you before. So stop threatening me."

Ling would have wrapped her arms around her middle if only her hands weren't tied together. She was in so much pain after being kicked so many times. And what was worst, she couldn't call any chakra to heal herself because whatever Sei had given her had taken it all away. She felt weak and useless, just like how she felt once before when she was a very young girl. This was not the first time she had been a captive to enemies. "...I guess things don't change very much with me." She sighed quietly to herself before she was yanked to her feet and forced to walk after the wicked band.

With the band of travellers, they were quickly making their way across the forest; Chiro in the lead with Sen right next to him. Without their cart, they were moving faster than before. And it was a good thing. They had to get to the Leaf Village quickly before the shadoai bandits found out that the Sen they had was actually Rin.

"How long is it now?" Sen asked wearily as she was almost jogging beside Chiro. His legs were too long for her liking and she was growing tired quickly.
Chiro looked down at her before looking ahead again, still keeping up his pace. "Not long now." He told her. "From what I remember from Rin's map, the hidden village of the leaf is not far from here. Maybe a mile or less. We should be there soon." he then looked over his shoulder at his men. "How are the rest of you holding up?"
The remaining three men murmured as they kept their pace, though it was clearly that they were very tired and injured to be going this fast. "We're tired, Chiro, sir." One said. "And weak. We're barely hanging on."
Chiro gave them a look of sympathy as he looked forward again. "I'm sorry, men. I'm tired and weak too. But try to hold on a little longer. We'll be in the Leaf Village soon. Once we get there, we'll get medical nins to help us." He told them. The three men nodded as they continued to hurry after their leader.

There was a long silence for the next twenty minutes as they rushed through the trees. But then Sen looked up at Chiro as she almost stumbled. "Chiro, I have an idea of how to save Rin."
The large warrior looked down at her, somewhat wearily, but then he nodded as he turned his eyes forward again. "Very well, Sen. What is your idea?" He asked still moving over fallen logs and under brush.

Sen looked forward again, pushing past a large bush. She looked awefully determined just thinking what she was. "Once we get into the Hidden Leaf Village, we will hire their nins to go after Rin. She once told me that her Shinobi used to take missions for payment. She was sure they still do it toda." She breathed in deeply. "We will find the Hokage of Konoha and ask for him to send Shinobi to save her. I can't leave Rin in Sei Zangetsu's hands to die, to be butchered. She's my friend." She said, sounding like she was in pain.
Chiro gave her a long look of sympathy before faintly smiling. He liked her idea. He knew that if these Leaf Shinobi were truly Rin's people, they would do anything to save their own kind. "Good idea, Sen. The Shinobi would be a help us, at a reasonable price. But we first have to get there in one piece. Let's hope that the Shadoai don't catch up to us first."

Too late.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, there was a loud battle cry before a rain of long bladed kunai and tanto fell from above, making all halt in their tracks and jerk around to see the Shadoai bandits in the trees. Immediately Chiro had out his scimitar and a protective arm around Sen. His three men surrounded them, weapons in their own hands. The bandits, however, didn't pause. They just began their attacks immediately.
Sen shrieked when one swung a katana towards her and Chiro, but her guard reflected the attack easily before swinging his powerful curved sword. The impact of the large sword against the katana sent the bandit stumbling back away from him.

"Captain Chiro! Take Sen and run!" One of the armed guards shouted. "We'll hold them off! Just go!"

Chiro didn't need to be told twice. He quickly picked Sen up in his large powerful arms and bolted as fast as he could go through the trees. His head bent a little low as it brushed against low branches. He knew that some of the shadoai would follow and knew that his three men would die. But there was nothing he could do. His priority was to save Sen.
After a while of running and dodging kunai, Chiro finally felt a blade strike him square in the back. Crying out in pain, he stumbled over a log and went crashing to ground. He had to turn his large body to take most of the fall, both arms wrapped around Sen, who was screaming as they went crashing along the forest floor. But a millisecond later, she found herself fall out of his protective arms.
Quickly, she was on her feet, looking around with wild eyes. The Shadoai were still running towards them and Chiro was on the ground with a kunai deep in his back. He was struggling to get it out, scrapes and gashes in his body but then he froze when he realized that Sen was still standing there. He looked to see a bandit rushing ever closer to attack his young mistress, who drew back in fear. Acting quickly, he grabbed his scimitar and swung it at the passing bandit's feet with the dull side. The bandit went screaming to the ground before he was immediately engulfed by large meaty fists by Chiro.

"Run, Sen! Go NOW!" Chiro roared as he leapt up and started to fight the Shadoai now attacking him.

Sen hesitated before she turned and bolted into the trees, in the direction where Chiro had been taking her. She could hear her guard shouting and battling brutally against the bandits. She really wanted to turn back and help him, but she was so afraid that if she did, she would run into one that was pursuing her. So all she could do was keep her legs pumping as hard as she could get them, her dress hiked up nearly to her thighs to keep it out of the way.

Suddenly, she felt a hand slap onto her shoulder and neck before she was yanked backwards, crashing into a hard chest. She immediately knew that it was a bandit, due to the raunchy smell of alcohol, blood and sweat of someone who hadn't taken a bath for almost a year. She couldn't help but scream at the top of her lungs.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!" She screamed before she cried out as the bandit slammed her down into the ground on her stomach.

She immediately began screaming and fighting to get the bandit off her. She could feel his rough hands yanking her arms behind her back to tie them together. Pausing for a second, she forced herself to turn around and kick the man hard in the stomach, making him stumble back. As soon as he was off of her, she tried to stand up and run.
But once again, he was on her. This time, he slammed her down on her back and slapped her across the face. "Stupid girl!" He shouted at her as he swung again. Sen took the blows before she screamed again and began trying to scratch at his face. Her somewhat long nails left long scratchs across his face, drawing blood. And for slicing open his face, the bandit back handed her harder across the face, making her see stars. She almost blacked out from that assault but managed to stay away. She felt him roughly grab her hands and start tying them together. "Stupid brat! You better worth this trouble or I will kill...!"

WHAM!

A foot slammed into the side of the bandit's face, sending him flying nearly twenty feet across the forest floor. A trail of dust and leaves was flung into the air as he crashed into a tree. Sen gasped in alarm before opening her tearfilled eyes to see who had just stopped the bandit and to her great surprise, it was only a boy younger than she was.
The boy was at least 17 or 18 years old and he had brilliant yellow blonde hair, which defied gravity terribly. A forehead protector was tied around his forehead, bearing the leaf symbol. He was clothed in brilliant orange and black. He had a kunai in his hands, standing ready to fight any enemy. His bright blue eyes above three whisker like markings were blazing with fury as he stood over Sen, protectivingly. "Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size, jerk!" He snarled at the Shadoai.

"Hmph." Came another voice. "Well that leaves you out, Naruto." remarked another young man in black and blue clothing. His long black hair falling around his face, though his forehead protector kept most of it out of his eyes.

The blonde snapped a deadly look at the other boy. "Shut up, Sasuke!!"

Though, Sen was not really listening to their short argument. She was too surprised to see how they had just both came out of nowhere and so suddenly. And even more surprised to see the leaf symbol on their forehead protectors around their foreheads.
But then she suddenly saw Chiro stumbling into view, gravely injured and still battling several bandits at once. He was nearly covered with them trying to kill him. "Chiro!" She cried out, trying to get up to her feet.

"I got 'em!" cried out a pink haired kunoichi. She, too, had appeared out of nowhere like the boys had done. She was about their age too. Surprisingly, she balled up a fist and rose it as if she was going to punch the ground. Sen sweatdropped as she sat up and slowly shook her head. 'Surely she isn't going to...' She thought to herself.

But the kunoichi did.

The pink haired girl slammed her fist onto the ground, which shook violently as if there was an earthquake. Then the ground began to shoot up into the air, sending chunks of earth flying everywhere. Chiro and the bandits went with them, making them all cry out in alarm. But at least they were off of him and he was freed. Even worst, he couldn't manage to land on right on the ground and slammed down onto the forest floor.

"Shinobi!" Another bandit shouted before he grabbed several mini shruikens and flung them every where.

The three Shinobi saw them coming and immediately moved to dodge. Sen, however, wasn't as fast as they were. She gasped as she watched them coming at her. And they would have hit her if there wasn't a sudden flash of silver white and a lot of thunks against wood.
Wide eyed, Sen looked up at the back of her rescuer, who was hold up a log full of shruikens. The man was tall, way more taller than she was. He had silver white hair that nearly stood on end with a forehead protector pulled down over the left eye and a mask covered the bottom half of his face. This was no doubt an elite shinobi from what Rin had told Sen about. She knew it by how fast he had just moved and the way he stood. And just by his appearence, she knew who he was. She knew because Rin had described him one time. Kakashi Hatake.