Okay, so it looks like this will be ten chapters.
I don't own Naruto
They stared for a few seconds before they completely realized what had occurred. None of them moved, unsure of what to do or think. Finally, Etsuya turned towards his squad.
"Okay, I'm going up ahead to scout out the village. I want all of you to go forward at your own pace. In the worst case scenario, then you need to make your way to the mountainside. It will be safe there." And with that, he sped off. 'Dammit, this mission has gone completely to hell.'
He headed through the village gateway. The signs of damage around him were obvious. He could hear the faint din of fighting going on all around him. He headed towards the arena, where the heaviest fighting was likely to be. 'I can't worry about those three. They should be okay.'
The three of them walked slowly down the path. Shinsuke was assisting Shiori, leaving Hideko to watch the area around them. They heard voices from nearby.
"Hideko" Said Shinsuke. "Go see what's going on. I'll stay with Shiori." Hideko nodded before heading disappearing into the thick. The girl in his arm just looked down.
'Why now? Why do I have to be a burden to them? This isn't how my life was supposed to be!'
She scrambled through the bushes as quietly as she could. Eventually, she stopped, spying the source. It appeared that Shikamaru, one of the laziest people she ever met, had somehow managed to capture a number of people. They appeared to be ninja, but she couldn't tell where they were from. She felt fairly confident that she had never seen the symbol on their hitai-ite before. However, she noticed a glint in the corner of her eye. In a nearby tree, another of the strange ninja was sitting, and in his hand was a number of shuriken.
She turned and ran straight up the tree the man was hiding in. However, he was concentrating so much on his target he never noticed her until she was almost all the way up, and by then it was too late. She aimed and landed her punch directly on his chin. He appeared to float for a minute before falling down onto the ground, hitting with a dull thud. She jumped off herself, landing near the lifeless body. 'So, I had to kill after all.' She had been struggling with this concept since she had become a ninja. Now that it happened, it shocked her how little she really felt now that she had done it. She walked out towards Shikamaru. He looked at her, along with his captives.
"Hey, not to be rude or anything, but wasn't your team on a mission?" 'when was she injured?'
"We just got back. Shinsuke and Shiori are back at the road. Whats happening? Who are these-" Before she could finish, he flinched, and she noticed the shadow on the ground become thinner.
"Great. Looks like this I'm out of chakra." The ninja in front of them all seemed to laugh. She backed up, only to hear someone land behind her.
"She shouldn't have been gone for this long." Said Shiori. The two of them had been waiting in the middle of the open road for a few minutes, and it made them nervous. Something strange was going on, something bad, and they had no idea where anyone else was.
"We just need to wait a little longer." Said Shinsuke, doing his best to calm her down. Of course, he had no idea how shaky his own voice sounded, but he hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. They could hear what sounded like fighting from where Hideko had headed off. "What is going on?" A few seconds later, they saw movement, causing them both to step back. However, it was Hideko who came out. Directly behind her was Shikamaru, which surprised both of them.
"What happened to you three?" He asked. The confusion on his face was obvious.
"Never mind us." Started Shiori. "We come back from a mission, see smoke coming from our home. Then Hideko heads off after a noise, and finds you? What in the world is going on?" He looked towards the bushes.
"The village is under attack." The three were all surprised by this, though Hideko was noticeably less so. "It's a combination of the Sand and Sound villages. Sasuke had chased a group out this way. Sakura, Naruto, and I were supposed to back him up. Their somewhere farther ahead. Asuma is back where I came from handling a group of Sound-nin. I'm not going to be of much help now, since I used all of my chakra on stalling those sound guys. What about you three. You don't like seem to be able to fight right now, either."
"Etsuya told us to head to the Hokage Monument." Said Shinsuke. After he said this, Asuma came out the brush.
"Well, that's the main evacuation point. It would be heavily guarded, since that should be where the civilians are headed."
'So, this is where it started.' Thought Etsuya. He had finally reached the arena at the center. It wasn't especially hard; most of the attackers had moved on, and those that stayed behind were easy targets. They hadn't been expecting anyone to come from behind. He carefully scanned the area. In the seats, a number of Jounin were protecting the crowd, who appeared to be unconscious, from a group of ninja whose outfits he didn't recognize as being from a major village. On the roof, a large barrier had formed. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he could see people in cloaks standing outside looking in. On the ground, two ninja were fighting. One was a fellow Konoha-nin. The other appeared a sand shinobi. 'Well, I guess that I should help.' He made his way towards the two on the bottom. They had appeared to be fighting fairly evenly. He hoped to be able to tip the scales.
Asuma led the four genin into the village. He was fairly confident, considering their condition, that they would never make it on their own. While Shiori was now being carried by Shinsuke, their speed was still slower than he had hoped. But it couldn't be helped. It was clear from seeing the look on their faces that whatever they had been expecting, this was far worse.
Weapons were scattered about seemingly at random. Blood was splattered about the street, and numerous bodies were strewn about, not all of them ninja. He picked up his pace, forcing the people following him to follow suit. The less they had to see, he thought, the better off they would be. They turned a corner, only to see a small group of sound-nin guarding. They were spotted in an instant.
"Okay, just stay back. I'll take care of them, and then we'll move on." He charged the group head on, hitting the first one directly across the chest. The genin then heard something; a group of three had heard the noise had came from their side to investigate. Asuma was unable to assist, due to the ones in front of them.
Shikamaru looked at the other three genin. "I still don't have any chakra, so I'll help Shiori, since my taijutsu is bad." He took Shiori from Shinsuke, setting her on the ground, allowing her to lean on his side. "You just need to delay them a bit. So don't take any unnecessary risks." The two nodded and left.
"I really hate being useless." Said Shiori, watching them leave.
Etsuya threw the kunai in his hand at the sand-nin. He quickly dodged it, as well as the punch Genma aimed at his gut. He then slashed towards the ninja in front of him with a kunai, which was blocked. Etsuya appeared behind him and landed a hit on his shoulder, which did little more than scratch the man's armor. He was then sent back as he was kicked in the gut. Genma ducked as the man spun around, attempting to stab his head. Genma tried a leg sweep. Baki jumped over it, but he wasn't expecting Etsuya to have recovered, and was thus unprepared for the blow to his back. He was thrown a few feet back, but managed to right himself in the air.
"After we finish, mind telling me what's going on?" Said Etsuya to the man beside him. He nodded, and the two then charged once again, meeting their opponent halfway.
Shinsuke cut towards the group with his naginata, but they all managed to jump back in order to avoid the attack. Hideko, standing behind him, formed a seal, activating her bloodline. The three in front of her stepped back, unsure of what to expect. She removed two kunai from her pouch and walked next to Shinsuke, one in each hand. The two sides had stood there for a moment, watching the other, and then they both charged. Shinsuke used his spear to flip behind one, dodging the attack, and then cut along the man's back. Hideko dodged an attack from one, and then stabbed towards his gut while using the other kunai to block an attack. The man she attempted to hit stepped to the side, but wasn't expecting to be hit as Shinsuke used the blunt end to separate the man from his comrade. However, after the attack, the other one kicked, hitting him directly in his already injured side. He flew backward. He landed on his side, but flipped back to his feet off of a bounce. The wound at his side had reopened, as the bandages had started to turn more red. He watched as the one he had cut earlier finally managed to stand up, although obviously with great difficulty. Shinsuke broke into a sprint towards the man. He stared as the genin flew directly at him, smashing him into a wall. Meanwhile, Hideko was staying mainly defensive, blocking or dodging the attacks directed at her. A few of their blows managed to touch her, but the damage itself was fairly minor.
Shikamaru and Shiori watched this, occasionally looking towards Asuma, hoping that he would finish with his group. It was obvious that the two wouldn't be able to continue for much longer.
Etsuya dodged the blade, continuing to stay defensive. He was an experienced Jounin, but he preferred stealth to direct action. Genma threw another volley of senbon towards Baki, and as he expected, none of them hit their mark. However, the attack managed to buy Etsuya enough time to use a jutsu, which sent their enemy backward, as well as causing a few minor scratches. The man skidded to a stop. He then took his time, moving forward fairly slowly. Etsuya and Genma both readied themselves.
'Dammit, I'm almost out of chakra.'
Even with time slowed, Hideko was having trouble reading the two ninja's movements. She was continually forced backward, closer to where Shikamaru and Shiori were. Shinsuke's bandages were red and dripping now. He struggled and managed to get to his feet.
As he stood up, his vision blurred. He could distinctly see three different figures. He could guess which was which, but he wasn't positive. He reached into his pouch, pulled out the first thing his hand touched, and threw it. The shuriken flew directly at the back of one of the sound-nin. The man was obviously not expecting it. He quickly turned, only to see the genin smirking at him. Hideko realized the opportunity and stabbed his neck before he could react. He died instantly.
The last one left was acting more aggressively now. Hideko was barely able to avoid him, and knew that her bloodline could cut off at any moment. She could feel the exhaustion creeping up. She dodged a cut towards her face, then collapsed onto the ground. She had reached her limit. Her eyes turned back to normal. The man, wanting to end it quickly, wasted no time in his attack. However, before it struck, the ground in front of him rose up, blocking his kunai. He looked around for the source of the jutsu. The girl whose leg was broken had formed a seal.
"Well then, I guess I should just switch targets." He threw the blade at the girl. However, a Jounin appeared, knocking it off to the side with a pair of brass knuckles. He then ran forward and, forming a blade off of the sides of his weapons, slashed across the man, killing him.
Asuma looked at the Genin under him. Shinsuke's side was bleeding pretty bad. Hideko was exhausted from her fight, but was otherwise uninjured. Shikamaru and Shiori were similarly unharmed by the attack. 'We'll have to be more careful. We can't afford another fight.'
Okay, hope ya liked that. Got kinda lazy at the end.
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