Chapter 15

The battle had been raging on now for at least twently minutes. Cyn watched with empty eyes when the Leaf ninja had cut Hidan's head cleanly from his body, Kakuzu reattach it and their shocked faces. They had been so proud when his head had fallen; believing he was truly dead.

Her eyes watched as the cursing Jashinist linked himself to the eldest of the opposing group.

She watched as he cut down the team's leader with a fatal blow to the chest using his retractable spear.

She watched as another group came as their backup.

The sadness that flowed from the young man named Shikamaru when he watched his old sensei fall almost made the girl want to help the man that was oh so close to death. Though her beasts within stopped her from doing so; reminding her they were the enemy and that she was to take no part in the battle.

It was almost enough to make her feel emotion.

The amount of desperateness in Shikamaru's voice when he called out his teacher's name. The soft tears that forced their way from his eyelids as he tried to run to the fallens side. When he tripped from unbalance and weakness, it almost made her want to help the other side. The opposing team.

The memories of that boy's own memories from when Kage had healed them; he was so happy with his team and life. He enjoyed laying back and relaxing with his friends.

He loved his sensei.

Then Cyn remembered why she had taken her sisters place.

How would Kage react to this? She would have helped them without a second thought.

Mioko.

That was the sole reason she had given in to the Akatsuki in the first place, and the reason Cyn was here now.

To protect Kage's real sister.

She wasn't her real sister, was she?

Cyn's mind began to cloud over with confusion; a new emotion to her.

Of course she was Kage's sister. Kage herself would speak to them when she was alone and tell them stories of her adventures.

Kage would call them her family.

That was the reason Cyn took her place on this 'Mission.'; so she wouldn't have to live with the guilt and the hate. Kage was one of the reasons she and her siblings were born, and she would always be the one that was Outside the most. There was no place in the world without Kage, and if she was saddened or hurt, Cyn and her siblings would take revenge on those who caused it.

That was Cyn's mission.

"To protect Onee-san."

"You have to be fucking kidding me? I was just fucking getting to the damn-good part." Hidan raged and spoke to no one in particular. "Just give me a few fucking minutes to finish the fucking bastards off!"

Silence.

"Let it go, Hidan. We can end things later." Kakuzu turned to Shikamaru and the other seven Leaf ninja. "I will come to collect his body at a later date."

"Wait!" Kotetsu growled with rage. He stood with a limp and leaned on his friend, Izumo for support.

Kakuzu glared back at the man; knowing what he wanted to know.
Before the opposing team could blink, the two male Akatsuki members were gone.

"Where the hell did they go?" Kotetsu growled with rage. He fell to the ground and clenched his jaw. "Damnit!"

"Calm down Kotetsu." Izumo frowned tightly and lifted his friend up again. "We'll find her."

Raido grunted angrily at the Akatsuki's escape. "I don't understand why you're so worried about that woman." He spoke with a slight choke. "She is just a normal woman that sacrificed herself to protect Suna ninja."

It was then Kotetsu and Izumo remembered. Hane had told them Ace had, transformed, into a woman with blonde hair and a gem ability. Kotetsu's heart dropped at the report, and they begged Hane to keep quiet. The large Suna ninja agreed after they told him the situation and that it would be best if her real identity was kept in the shadows because of the possibility the Hidden Villages would freak out. The Suna ninja reported that Ace sacrificed herself to the Akatsuki to keep them alive; and when the council had asked what they would want a normal human for, he came up with the story that she was an excellent medic. The council bought the story, and afterwards dropped the matter.

The three youngest from the group were circled around their sensei, spilling over in tears from his last words. He was gone, and they couldn't believe it.

A small breeze picked up slowly and began to build into a fierce wind. The ninja all shut their eyes slightly to keep the dirt from the ground out of their eyes.

Aoba, the only one with goggles, looked around through the wind to find the source of its cause. "There's chakara, strong chakra. I can't find it though."

Ino looked from her old teacher's body and to the sky slightly. A dark figure was slowly descending from above at a slow pace. "Look!"
As the men of the group turned their heads, the figure placed her foot on the hard ground and stood.

Izumo and Kotetsu looked at the girl with horror; their faces stretched into ones that showed dismay and fear. They both fell to the ground, apart and gasped.

The wind died until it was no more, leaving behind an eerie silence. The entire place was a dead silence, actually. The only audible sounds were coming from sandals as they shuffled on the ground and the hitched breaths of the Leaf ninja.

"Another Akatsuki member?" Choji hiccupped slightly. "I thought they worked in pairs?"

Aoba clenched his fists tightly until his knuckles were white, along with his jaw. "We have no information of a female Akatsuki besides Konan. They must have brought her in recently, or she just knows how to slip around people."

Cyn walked to Kotetsu and Izumo at a slow pace. She knew who they were.

"Onee-San's best friend."

Kotetsu froze along with his partner as the girl drew closer and closer to them.

When the pinkette stood between the two males, she came to a complete stop.

Ino growled and ran at the other girl; tears flowing from her eyes as she wielded a handful of kunai. "You stupid Akatsuki!" She threw the handheld blades directly at Cyn with as much force as she could.

The wind picked up again, though only slightly, as the female Akatsuki member raised her hand. Strong and hot embers arose from her palms and erupted into great flames. The kunai headed straight into it, though as melted into a liquid-state at the first contact. Kunai liquid fell to the ground and the tag around it was burned to ash. It ended in a pile of heated dirt next to Izumo, making him flinch away from the burning substance.

"Hm." A sparkled dust surrounded Cyn as she closed her eyes, and as she breathed lightly the small shards scattered around in a circular motion with a strong wind; forcing the ninja back slightly. "Calm down."

Ino held another kunai in hand; grasping it tightly with a clenched jaw before making the decision to throw it. Her aim was spot on, and she felt good about this throw, though the pinkette moved her head slightly out of the way and the sharp weapon embedded itself in a nearby tree.

Cyn opened her eyes then; glaring at Ino with hate. She raised her hand slowly, the Konoha ninja flinching slightly and then becoming tense, and then swiped her arm across the air.

The tree the kunai had rested in erupted in flames, burning with such ferocity the blonde had to take a gaping breath. "H-how?"

"The wind has carried my birthright to you all." Cyn announced in a monotone manner. Her yellow eye was focused on Ino with annoyance. "My chakra is in every one of the shards, and with that I can kill you in many ways." She then turned her head to Kotetsu. "I said to calm down. Onee-san wants this."

"Onee-san?" Aoba growled. He wanted to attack the Akatsuki, but he had no choice but to let her so as she pleased right now.
Everyone was in danger.

They all watched with discomfort as the female Akatsuki bent down to their friends crouched between them. None of them could tell what the woman was saying, but the looks on the two's faces were enough to tell they were in shock. When the girl finally stood they tensed again.

Cyn looked to the Leaf shinobi and then to the two on the ground. She bowed slightly, "Heed my warning."

Her body seemed to dismantle into small, gleaming shards of dust that captured and reflected the light to make them shine. The dust from the Leaf ninja also flew away with her, leaving them tensed and wondering.

"What did that woman tell you?" Aoba snapped with rage.

The two sat there with shocked faces, unable to speak for the longest time.

"Well?"

"Move! Now!" Kotetsu jumped along with his partner and grabbed Asuma's limp body.

The shinobi looked at them with wild faces. "Don't just stand there, get out of here!" Izumo screamed with desperateness. It was evident shock was still in them.

The group of seven dashed off as quickly as possible, away from the collection office with the swiftness of a star. Kotetsu's eyes were burning, threatening to spill over with tears as they carried the limp body of Asuma. Izumo had more trouble with keeping his tears from falling, but eventually the wind against his face dried them away.

They stopped a good mile or so away from the building's area; panting and wiping sweat from their brows.

"What was the big idea?" Ino shouted at them, obviously pissed and scared at the same time.

Aoba walked to Kotetsu, who was kneeling on the ground trying to catch his breath. "What did that girl tell you Kotetsu?"

He panted along with Izumo; the sudden rush of adrenaline from seeing Cyn and the information was to much to handle at once. "She." He choked out with a dry throat. "She said"

A blazing inferno of absolute destruction boomed from far away. The trees were pushed back, despite the distance and from between them the shinobi could see the catastrophic explosion of the collection office as it burst into an angry fire and rubble. They all gasped, besides Izumo and Kotetsu, at the sight of where they had just been merely one and a half minutes ago.

Ino cupped her hands over her mouth as she fell to her knees while everyone else stared on with widened eyes; bright from the light the fire gave off.

"Why?" Aoba clenched his fists tightly and turned to the two that had just regulated their breathing. "Why did she- an Akatsuki member of them all tell you about that?" He demanded with a roar. "What all did she tell you?"

"That she was destroying the building." Izumo said a little to quickly, but with his own rage in his voice. He stood tall against his fellow comrade. "She told us that if we didn't leave then and there, that we would all be dead!"

"Why?" Aoba demanded again. "Who was that woman? We have no record of her! She isn't even in the bingo book! She isn't filed as a Hidden Village shinobi! Who is she?"

Kotetsu stood with a tight frown. He knew that woman and so did Izumo. They both knew she was a part of Kage, and they also knew about the other two, but how could they just come out and say that? Could he betray Kage's identity like that? Sure, he'd only known her for half a year or so, but she had done so much for their people in that little time; feeding them, healing them and even giving them a place to stay. Kage had told them she never had any real friends besides her "Family" and opened up to them.

It felt like bile crawling up Kotetsu's throat at the thought of betraying her, but then again Cyn was a threat to Konoha now- an enemy.

What would he do?

What would he tell them?

He fell in love with Ace- Kage's disguise and now he loved her like a sister. How could he just blab about her past, about her? After everything…

"She told us that her name was Cyn." He clenched his jaw. Izumo looked at him with a frightened look, though relief finally settled into his dark orbs as her processed his partners words. "Apparently the Akatsuki had just recruited her. All she told us was her name and that she was going to kill us if we didn't move fast enough."

"Why you two?" Shikamaru glared.

Izumo shrugged lightly, his arms burning from the sudden workout on his muscles just moments before. "I don't know- We don't know. She just did, okay?"

"Maybe that's her way of dealing with things?" Choji started in a soft, low voice. "Maybe that girl, Cyn I mean, is just like that, y'know? She talked about someone she called Onee-san, remember? 'Onee-san wants this' so maybe she did that because she was told to."

Aoba grunted with frustration, eyes turning back to the dying flames that had eaten and digested the collection office. "Let's hurry. Back to Konoha."