Chapter 39

"Are you ok?" asked Goro Anno. Osaka had one arm over his broad shoulders, the boy supporting her as she had not fully recovered.

Osaka looked up at him in a dreamy haze and smiled faintly. "I'll be ok."

"That's good" he said. "That's great" he added as the group walked towards the village. Led by the exam invigilators and various teachers the students marched towards battle. The few injured had stayed behind. Even Haru had joined them, even though he was busy moaning about it.

"I'll be fine" said Osaka, still smiling as she looked as the blazing fires.

"Are you sure you want to come?" asked Chihiro, a short distance away from Goro and Osaka.

"Some of my friends are in that village" said Chiyo. "I want to help them."

"And Kaorin went into the village with Sakaki?" asked Chihiro.

"Yes" said Chiyo nodding.

"I hope she's ok" said Chihiro nervously. "Ever since we ended up in different teams I haven't spent enough time with her."

"She'll be-"

"What is that?" called out Ohyama pointing to the large academy building.

Chiyo looked towards the building as the flames flew higher. A figure stood by the edge holding something. And below a group of the enemy soldiers had become disorientated. They seemed to be milling around without purpose, some even appeared to be fleeing.

Minamo, who was leading, turned to the group of students and teachers.

"Lets end this invasion once and for all!" she called out. The group (with the exception of Haru and a few students not from the village) yelled out in agreement and approached the enemy.

---

With the door locked shut Sakaki and Yukari placed Kenji and Kaorin on the ground. Yukari ripped off some expensive curtains and covered them up their necks. She crouched down. Kenji Tendo groaned and looked across at her as she wrapped a bandage around Kaorin's neck.

"You two stay here and don't try anything" said Yukari.

"I-I was thinking of going for a stroll" joked Kenji.

"Ha ha ha" said Yukari. "Just stay put, both of you will be ok now" she said. She stood up and turned to Sakaki. "You wanna come with me or stay here? I'm going to go look for Kimura and Tomo; they would be helpful to have around. Human shields" she whispered jokingly.

"I'll come and help you" said Sakaki. Both her teacher and one of her friends were out there. She had to help; she had to know they were ok. Kimura was a bit of a pervert, but he was a kind person at heart. And Tomo…when they had been at the academy she had been nervous of the girl, but she was a friend now. One of her best friends. Even though she'd never had a best friend before, she knew Osaka and Tomo could both be considered one.

"Ok then Sakaki. Snap out of your daydreams and follow me" she said.

The two left through the far door, closing it behind them. The two sprinted along the corridors, Yukari coming to a stop as she spotted an open door. She quickly peered inside and spotted the small hollow.

"He took the weapons" she said smiling. "I'm surprised he remembered, I'm sure he spent the whole time we put them there just looking at my chest" she said. "You didn't just hear that Sakaki."

"I-I heard nothing" said Sakaki.

"Good. He'd probably be heading for the stairways so he'd have access to all of the floors. Come on Sakaki" said Yukari, signalling to another pathway.

The two moved quickly but quietly, coming to a sudden stop in front of a busted down door. A small pile of bodies lay on the floor, soaked in blood. Sakaki looked away.

"Don't worry Sakaki, they aren't our ninja" replied Yukari, as kind-hearted as ever. "They're just the enemy."

"Is that you?" groaned a voice.

"Kimura!" said Sakaki, shocking herself as she called out. She ran over to the man who was slowly lifting his head up to look.

"Ah Sakaki, you come here often?" asked Kimura.

His head leant back and Sakaki looked down at his blood soaked shirt. A sword beside he had seen action, splashed with blood. Kimura had fought this men by himself- Sakaki was sure of that.

"How badly hurt are you?" asked Yukari.

"I'll live. But I don't think I'll be able to help out too much" replied Kimura.

"Oh ok" said Yukari, "We'll take you back to the other injured people, Kenji and Kaorin."

"They injured Kaorin?!" asked Kimura suddenly standing up. For a moment it was as though he wasn't hurt at all. Then he groaned and held a hand against his injury. "I'll get every last one of them!" he said, picking up his sword and limping towards the exit. He couldn't even lift the sword, dragging it along the ground.

"But you're injured" said Sakaki quietly.

"Settle down there Rambo" said Yukari. "Kaorin ought to come out of this with nothing more then a scar…"

"They defiled my Kaorin!"

"And she should be fine" said Yukari in the tone only a woman could produce. "Now where is Tomo?" she asked. "This has been one hell of a night."

Sakaki paused for a moment. That was right- it had only been a few hours since she and her team were pondering about how to pass an exam. Only a few hours since this had all started…it felt like an eternity ago. She snapped back to attention as Kimura began to spoke.

"She went up the stairs…to the roof" said Kimura pointing. He slowly slumped down and sat against the wall. "I'll just stay here for a moment" he said as Sakaki and Yukari started to run up the stairs.

It seemed an eternity before the stairs ended, but suddenly they were gone and Sakaki was on the roof of the tall building. A few torches still burned, most were now mere embers. Yomi and Kagura stood and signalled to them. As though they hadn't climbed the numerous flights of stairs, both Yukari and Sakaki sprinted across to them.

"Tomo fainted" said Yomi, not mentioning the power that had been unleashed.

Sakaki crouched down, looking into the face of Tomo who seemed so peaceful now. She ignored the decapitated body a short distance away, ignored the yells and sounds of battle from below as the village was reclaimed once and for all.

"Tomo? Tomo please wake up" she said, as Tomo remained unresponsive. "Please."

She seemed so peaceful.

And then she started snoring.

"Tomo!" yelled out Yukari.

---

Tomo slowly awoke, looking up at a battle scarred ceiling. She shifted, feeling comfortable in the bed she lay in. She peered to her left where Kaorin sat asleep, with Kenji in the next bed. To the right of her was Kimura, lying on his bed with his face twisted into a shape reflecting his dreams.

"I guess we won then" she said to herself.

A few seconds later the silence was broken as Sakaki and Yomi entered the room.

"You have a lot of nerve making us worry like that" said Yomi. Sakaki blushed with a look of delight and muttered something. Tomo was surprised as a smile suddenly made its way onto the taller girls face.

"Miss Tomo!" said Chiyo waltzing into the room, dragging Osaka behind her, who waved dreamily.

"Yo" said Kagura following behind them.

"Now really, we can't have you all in here making a noise like this" said the acting nurse, giving the small group of teenagers a scornful look, having come to investigate the sudden racket.

"Oh sod off" said Yukari as she stepped into the room. She dragged the nurse out and returned, closing the door behind her.

"What? No presents?" asked Tomo.

"I picked you a flower, but it died two days ago" said Osaka.

"Two days ago- how long have I been out?" asked Tomo.

"About three days" said Chiyo. "Miss Sakaki spent much of that time here" she added, Sakaki turning away embarrassed.

"I was out for three days?" asked Tomo.

"Heh when I was a student I slept for longer then that a few times" said Yukari.

"So what happened to the village?" asked Tomo.

"There's going to be a lot of rebuilding" replied Yomi. "It's already started."

"A-and the Hokage is dead" sadly added Chiyo. A silence fell over the group.

"Have they chosen a new leader?" asked Tomo.

"Yes" said Yukari dryly. "Kimura."

"Him?" asked a shocked Tomo, pointing to her injured teacher. He hadn't been woken up by the small gathering.

"Nope…his father" replied Yukari. "And unfortunately father is like son."

"Kimura's father?!" asked Tomo in an even more shocked tone. "He has a father? I thought he just 'appeared' one day."

"It's true" said Yukari. "I'm just waiting for him to announce all female ninja must wear bikinis."

---

Arai tripped over the tree root and cursed as he fell to the floor. He'd been on the run ever since Kuraigu's death. Some of the men had been captured, quite a few injured or killed, some had run. He was all on his own, but he was alive. He looked haggard with a few days of stubble and bloodshot eyes. Just another day and he'd find himself at a small village. He'd clean himself up and-

He froze as he felt a cold blade against his throat. He looked down at the long sword which was a deep black colour. The person holding it was just a shadow in the trees behind him.

"This world is better without people like you" said the unseen man as the blade slashed once.

Author's note: This story is going to be on hiatus for a while :)