"What was that?" Chizu's voice inquired, her eyes peeled in the direction of what sounded like an explosion.

Naruto's descendant resembled him closely. She had inherited the blonde hair and blue eyes of the Namikaze blood, and had also inherited those three whisker-like markings atop her cheeks as a result of Kurama's presence within her. She had also been told by some of the historians at the Bijuu Shrine that her rambunctious attitude also closely resembled the sixth Hokage's.

What may have had a difference in the way they turned out, however, was the royal etiquette with which Chizu had been raised. She had been groomed to be beautiful in many ways. She could sing, she could play the Koto, and had been taught the complexities of diction so that she may have the verbal skill to influence the people she visited throughout her life time.

Compared to the rest of the Jinchuuriki, Chizu spent a lot of time outside the walls of the Bijuu Shrine because of her status as the representation of Naruto Uzumaki, who not only she inherited Kurama from, but whom she also inherited her name from. In short, she was one of the most popular beings in existence.

As a Jinchuuriki, and Kurama's Jinchuuriki no less, it was her job to keep people armed with a profound understanding of the sacrifices her grandfather of three generations ago, along with his friends, had to make to bring this peace about so that they may value what they had. In that way, she believed that she had been helping keep things peaceful, until a few months ago when those random attacks began.

Typically, she was seen wearing something benefiting of her status, but certain circumstances in the past week had brought about some unusual changes. Now, she wore a thick brown coat over her body that covered her entire person, save for her blue eyes, and also appeared disheveled.

Her entire group had been through a lot. So much, in fact, that they were down to less than a third of the members that her group consisted of at first.

"Not sure, but we better get moving," Tsume responded.

Tsume was a kunoichi who had spent a lot of time around Chizu as she was growing up, and was one of the three protectors left. She wore a white flak jacket most reminiscent of the kind that was used in the Land of Lightning, and carried around a katana strapped to her back. Her green eyes were intense under the rogue strands of red hair, and her skin was tanned.

The others were Kiriyama and Sanji.

Kiriyama was a tall, skinny man with short black hair who wore a heavy black vest under a blue jacket styled like a kimono, and a pair of black pants. He, too, carried a sword, but wore it on his hip instead. His vigilant gaze wasn't as intense as Tsume's, but at first glance, he appeared to be a man of discipline and focus as well.

Sanji was the shortest, but the vague appearance of wrinkles on his countenance and the grays on his head were a testament not only to his age, but also to his experience. Out of the three protectors Chizu had left, he was the one who had seen the most tension in the shinobi world.

"Stop dawdling, everyone. You, too, Chizu," Tsume commanded.

Chizu turned her attention away from where the explosive noise had originated from and jogged after Tsume, stopping next to her as they continued. The kunoichi was the one she felt safest around.

Around Chizu, the three guardians kept themselves under control, but the three of them knew that their situation was deteriorating. They understood the politics of everything, and it was only a matter of time before the countries sent shinobi to come look for them. Whether or not they would come to take Chizu to their respective villages was unclear.

What was clear, however, was that three guardians didn't quite appear to be enough. At the time, their only hope was that the Bijuu Shrine would also send troops to search for her.

They felt that it was up to them to avoid capture for as long as possible, but they knew they weren't going to be getting out of the vicinity by themselves. Making a beeline out of there would stand out as a huge red flag to the sensory shinobi in the area.

Their best chance was to keep moving around, and hope to avoid detection by avoiding major conflicts. From the sound of that battle nearby, it looked like the countries may have already started fighting each other.

Tsume, Kiriyama and Sanji knew the severity of such an occurrence. Chizu wasn't directly told how bad things were, but she was bright enough to figure it out all on her own.

"Maybe we should turn ourselves in," Chizu said, breaking the silence between them.

As Tsume turned her eyes to see her, watching the moon's silver light shimmering in her worried eyes, she remained steadfast.

"Nonsense," she responded, "We don't know what they would do to you. What if they tried to extract Kurama? Something like that would kill you."

"But Kurama says he'll stop that from happening."

Tsume gave pause, considering how much of a boon it was to have Kurama on their side. Still, it was her duty to understand that if the countries were sent to hunt a Jinchuuriki, then they would most certainly be prepared to seal a tailed beast.

"Kurama can be sealed. We don't want to risk that," she calmly responded.

"But I don't want anybody else to die for me."

Chizu's voice was fluid and steady.

Kiriyama chimed in, "Chizu-sama, it's our duty to protect you. Don't feel guilty about those who have already passed away doing so. I assure you, there was no greater honor for them."

"That's correct," Tsume ascertained. "Now come along, and stay quiet. We don't want to attract any attention."

Though there was a pang of defiance begging her to not remain silent about the way she truly felt, she listened. She didn't want Tsume to get angry. She had seen the way she berated her subordinates when they made mistakes.

Doton, Vibrational Sensory.

Meanwhile, in the far distance, there sat a man on the earthen floor. On his forehead, he wore a shinobi headband with the five country alliance symbol etched into it. He was thick and powerful looking, with black facial hair that trailed down from his sideburns to his jawline, where they curved in the direction of his chin and stopped there. The clothes he wore were largely brown colored, typical of what the shinobi from the Land of Rock dressed like. Each of his palms was pressed into the floor.

"How much longer, Tousen?"

Around him stood two other shinobi who kept an eye out. A male and a female, each wearing clothes that resembled their leaders'. The male in particular had a very impatient mien about him.

He had shoulder length black hair tied into a small pony tail, sharp facial features, and light stubble on his cheeks. He, too, was big, but not stocky. He may have been as tall as the man who was seated on the floor.

"Relax, Gojiro," Mikayo cooed. Her black hair was short, and she wore an armored skirt piece that extended flaps down a good way of her thighs, offering some measure of protection. Up higher, she wore a brown vest made of resilient earthen material that was also designed to be light. In contrast to Gojiro, she looked calmer, and her gentle eyes had an innate manner of being seductive.

"We don't have too much time before the others find her, damn it."

Tousen finally entertained him.

"With you talking, it's going to take longer, so stuff something long and thick down your throat for the mission's sake, will ya?"

"Fuck you," Gojiro answered.

As Tousen closed his eyes again slowly, he reached out. By the virtue of his Earth Release, the dirt iself seemed to speak to him, giving him vague images of the surrounding areas.

It took an hour, but he found what he was looking for, and he made it known to his subordinates nearly at the same time.

"You sure?"

Gojiro's lips slanted diagonally as he watched Tousen.

"I know those steps anywhere."

Tousen was the sensory shinobi of the group, but he had a very original manner of going on about it. When chakra sensing could be easily disrupted by other sensors in the area, he could shift to using Doton to get the job done. It only worked in places where the ground was made of dirt and rock, of course, but this enormous forestry area that had become Chizu's hiding place was just the right fit.

It also helped that Tousen had gotten to know Chizu during the time she spent in Iwagakure. During her tenure there, he had been tasked with her safety, something like an extra layer of protection stacked on top of the guards that she usually traveled with.

"Looks like she's only got three guardians left. Let's move before the others do."

When he stood, it was painfully clear that Gojiro actually stood a whole head shorter than his captain.

Mikayo was the first to move, her feet carrying her in towards the trees while the two others quickly caught up and traveled beside her.

"I sense something."

Kokori and Eito stopped, turning to glance at Izo behind them over their shoulders.

"Movement. Three shinobi."

As Izo stood there atop a branch, lowered on one knee, it looked like he was staring at the space in front of him. The truth was, however, that he was staring into a much vaster space than that.

"Does it feel like any of them might have Kurama inside?"

Kokori's question caused Izo to shake his head.

"Then it's of no real concern to us," Eito concluded. "We want to avoid everything unless it's Chizu we've found."

Kokori concurred silently and stared at Izo. So did Eito. Still, that concentrated look on the Yamanaka's face endured. Eito and Kokori were unsure of what was going on. It lasted a few more moments when Eito finally gave them an order, "Leave it, Izo. Let's move."

This time, the blonde lifted his hand.

"There's something different about them."

"What?"

Kokori seemed not to blink while she waited for an explanation.

"They're moving differently. All the other teams we've found were moving steadily, with the kind of pace that would indicate passive search. These three . . . they're moving much quicker. They're not searching, they're pursuing."

After his last word was uttered, he turned to Eito.

"Either they found Chizu, or they're pursuing another enemy."

"I think it's worth following, Eito," Kokori interjected, turning her attention to him.

Eito nodded his head assertively, "Agreed. Lead the way, Izo."

His legs unfurled and propelled him to the front of his group. Eito and Kokori began following him along. The possibility of fighting hadn't felt as strong the whole day until now. Each of them were close to accepting the brutal reality of what was happening here.

"If their stance is like Kirigakure's stance, we'll engage them. But not until they reach whatever they're pursuing. No questions asked. Understood?"

Kokori offered up an apprehensive nod and Izo answered from ahead.

"Understood."

"Can you use your chakra harmonization technique to keep us hidden?"

Izo mulled Eito's words over and didn't look back as he responded.

"I can, but in movement, that technique drains a lot of chakra. If it takes them long to get to where they're going, I may not be able to keep the distortion up long enough. Also, if they reach their destination before I run out of stamina, then I'll likely be low on chakra for the fight. If there is one."

"Alright, we'll continue as is. We'll keep a distance. Hopefully that's enough of a buffer."

"If they've got a sensor, I doubt it'll be enough."

Kokori turned to Eito, "If they notice we're following them, and they're heading for Chizu, they might stop and deal with us first."

"You think they'll risk losing Chizu?"

"I would say so, yes. But I guess there is a possibility they might not. I think there are more chances they'll stop."

Eito's right eye turned ahead again as a pensive expression crossed his countenance.

"If they stop and they wont cooperate with the Hokage's orders of protecting Chizu over bringing her to a village, we'll engage them and Izo will extract information from a single survivor using his mind reading technique. Hopefully we can acquire Chizu's location that way."

Kokori slanted her mouth in response to those tense orders. As much as she didn't like it, she knew Eito was limited in his decisions.

"How troublesome . . . " she uttered gently.

"Don't worry, Kokori," Izo reassured, "Everything will be fine."

Upon entering pursuit, it didn't take long before they were sensed. Tousen stopped in his tracks and turned around entirely. Gojiro and Mikayo stopped as well, but only turned their heads backwards to see what their captain was up to.

"We're being tailed," he declared.

Gojiro's entire body tensed, "Finally, some action. If they're here for Chizu, we should kill 'em off."

Mikayo turned her body fully at that point.

"You're always so excitable, Gojiro . . . " her voice trailed off.

Tousen's glance didn't leave from where it was projected. There was the most resolute look on his face. His jaw was clenched, his eyebrows were drawn in tightly, and his eyes never blinked.

"We wait here."

"But what if we lose Chizu?"

Mikayo's arms folded under her breasts. Her expression wasn't as relaxed as it had been other times. There was a struggle there, borne of critical thinking.

"I can always find her again if we need to. We can't afford to lead anybody straight to her."

"Yes, Captain," she replied. Gojiro just smirked, eager for whoever it was that was chasing them to arrive.

"They've stopped," Izo eventually said, releasing a breath that had been superfluous for his words.

"Try and differentiate the sensor over the rest."

"Done," Izo replied. "He's got a lot of chakra."

"Alright. Here's the plan. If there's a fight, I'll enter the fray first and see if I can take out the other two. You two stand back and provide support from a distance. I'm doing this because your techniques are better suited for capture than mine. If it takes too long and you're engaged, however, then respond as you will. But don't act prematurely. Understood?"

The two verified that they understood the captain's orders and from there, the time went by far too quickly for Kokori. With every yard they traveled, she found herself hoping and wishing that the distance between the two groups would stretch out and make it take longer.

They emerged from the forest debris and found the three Iwagakure shinobi standing within a clearing that they had likely created with the use of Doton. The open space made it much easier for the moon to cast its brilliant, silver gaze atop them. They were center stage, and the spotlight was hovering over them.

Izo immediately pointed out their sensor to his team mates via the telepathic ability of his Yamanaka lineage.

"There you are, buncha lowly scavengers," Gojiro spat. "Why dontcha stop piggy backing off of us and do your own thing? Not good enough?"

Eito's eye was focused solely on Gojiro as he spoke, and he didn't answer at all. He stared at him for a good long while, studying him more than any of the rest for the time being.

"What? Dontcha have anything to say, dumb asses?"

It was then that the six shinobi recognized the marks on each others headbands. All of them were wearing the symbol of the allied forces from so many years ago. All six shinobi experienced a pang of hope, but it quickly faded away when they applied more of a realistic train of thought to the situation.

"Our Kage ordered us to protect Chizu here as best we could rather than bring her to a village, in the name of the Shinobi Alliance."

"Don't listen to that jackass, Tousen. How the hell are we supposed to believe you're not planning on stealing her out from under our noses when the time is right?"

"Enough, Gojiro," Tousen finally ordered. "Stay quiet. I'll handle this."

Gojiro's hands tightened into fists in response to the way Tousen suppressed him. His captain's order turned him into an explosion that was bottled up in a small, small container. He was so ready to escape its confines.

"My subordinate is right, I'm afraid. Put simply, we can't trust you. Nowadays, we can only trust ourselves."

Izo had definitely heard enough of that old story.

"Then why the hell did anybody bother putting on these fucking headbands? If we weren't going to show a modicum of faith in what it stands for, we should just take them off and toss them aside!"

Tousen took a moment to think things through. By the time he was finished, he was sympathetic. These shinobi could very well be caught in the same position that Iwagakure was in. In a position where they were thoroughly aware of the fact that they had nothing to do with the attacks that were coming very, very close to igniting a war, and they couldn't be trusted.

"Our Kage told us to don them so that we may inspire the same attitude in the other shinobi we were going to encounter here. To inspire others to trust us to do the right thing with Chizu."

While the sensor shinobi's response inspired anger in Izo, Eito cut through the fluff of the conversation with a question that downgraded their interaction to a state of black and white.

"Are you insinuating that your intention is to bring Chizu to your village?" From the way they were dressed, Eito suspected they were from the Land of Rock. "To Iwagakure?"

"Yes," Tousen answered.

A pause ensued.

It seemed to last a life time, but in reality, not but five seconds had passed. Eito's left hand raised, lifting the headband off of his left eye moments before the eyelids parted. The Iwagakure shinobi recognized the Sharingan immediately, and its three tomoe floating in the backdrop of his red iris.

From there, Eito's hands burst into a series of seals that were nothing but blurs.

Sanji's steps came to a stop. They had each been so silent in their traveling that when one pair of feet stopped walking, it felt like a trumpet next to their ear had gone silent. Everyone else stopped, too.

"Two trios of shinobi are approaching each other, it would seem."

Chizu's eyes seemed to light up. Her heart began beating faster, and as she watched Tsume and Kiriyama convene, her mind raced. Myriad memories returned to her, flashing her the countless hours she spent attempting to keep people invested in the peace between the countries.

All of that . . . she felt, was going to waste.

"Are they . . . from the countries?"

Sanji turned his head, but said nothing. The seconds seemed to slow down for her, and she spent them staring into his eyes like she wasn't looking for his glance, but more like she was looking for a facial expression that might give her the truth, which she was certain she would never receive directly.

"No," Tsume answered in his place.

Chizu's eyes went intense.

"You're lying. I'm sick of being lied to," she erupted, her fingers tightening into fists. "I'm not an idiot. I know that you've all been tiptoeing around me, trying to keep the truth from me, but it's not working. At this point, you're all just insulting my intelligence."

The three guardians stared at her silently. Chizu could gather a lot from their relative inertia. Not only did they have nothing feasible to retaliate with, but she could also see that they felt there was nothing they could do.

"We need to do something! We can't just let this happen!"

This time, Tsume spoke. She stepped on towards Chizu and stopped two feet from her, glancing down into her eyes.

"Chizu, we're only four people. We can't do anything right now."

What she said next took a good amount of strength to say.

"We don't even know if we'll be able to protect you, much less go around and try to make peace."

"There has to be something we can do! Let me go to them. I'll persuade them."

"Chizu-sama, you can't ask that of us. We would sooner die than leave your side in a situation like this," Kiriyama answered. "And please, do not burden Tsume any further. She is already under a lot of stress."

"They've convened," Sanji cut them off. "Their fight is likely going to attract visitors, and they're close. We better get out of here if we want to avoid this."

"I'm going," Chizu declared, "And I order you three to stand down."

She stepped past them, her steps heavy and certain before Tsume grasped her arm.

"Let go!"

After wrenching her arm from her guardian, she leaned forward and began running in the direction that Sanji had been looking. Tsume's facial expressions soured and she hesitantly lifted her hands, performing a series of calm seals.

Raiton, Blue Prison.

Her entire body erupted into a blue spark that swiftly descended her body until it dispersed in Chizu's direction from the tips of her toes. After reaching her, the current divided itself into two and quickly formed a square around her. A blue prison made of live electricity appeared surrounding her.

In a rage, Chizu turned around, "Tsume! I order you to let me go!"

"I can't do that."

Tears of frustration manifested at Chizu's eyelids. Her hands were still clenched into tight fists and she stood there defiantly. Kiriyama eventually stepped towards Tsume and began whispering into her ear.

From where Chizu was standing, she could tell he said something she didn't quite want to hear, but was forced to concur with nonetheless. Tsume's hands lifted again, moving to perform seals.

"Kurama! Help me!"

She turned around and ran straight towards the barrier.

Fool, she heard, somewhere from deep inside her consciousness. Tsume's eyes went wide in fear when suddenly, Chizu's whole body lit up. A familiar orange chakra burst out and encapsulated in Kurama's cloak.

Not only did it protect her from harm, but it also strengthened her body. She tore past the electrical barrier in a flash, and was disappearing into the forest quicker than any of them would be able to follow.

"Chizu-sama!"

Her three guardians gave chase, but even they couldn't keep up with Chizu in her current state. They found themselves not chasing an orange glow eventually, but a path of destruction behind her. Claw marks on the ground, splintered tree trunks, and razed grass.

Doton, Dust cloud.

The ground between the six shinobi spun into a maelstrom that resulted in a blanket of dirt that kept both teams from viewing one another directly. However, the Iwagakure shinobi were able to see when the Sharingan user entered its confines.

"Careful, he can still see us with the Sharingan!" Tousen alerted his shinobi.

Gojiro gritted his teeth, "Idiot! You think we'll be bested by your Doton! We can see in it, too!"

As Gojiro rushed forth, Mikayo yelled, "Gojiro! Hold your ground!"

Ignoring his team mate, he performed a quick pair of seals and entered the dust cloud.

Doton, Earth Sensory.

Gojiro was nowhere near as good with the jutsu as Tousen was, but in a minor situation like this, it was perfect. Meanwhile, Tousen focused on the cloud, immediately drawing out an image of their encounter based on the chakra flowing through their bodies.

When Eito and the Iwagakure shinobi met square in the center of the dust cloud, a loud iron clang illustrated that it happened. Following that, Gojiro grunted and cursed as he entered a plethora of encounters that resulted in a series of iron clangs.

"Gojiro!" Tousen yelled, "Come out!"

Two figures burst out of the cloud at that moment in the same direction, after having stalemated their assaults. Tousen followed the two of them out with his eyes, and that was when they found themselves faced with a difficult situation.

Both of the men that had come out of the dust cloud were Gojiro. It drew Tousen's immediate attention as he immediately began attempting to discern their chakra by focusing directly on them.

It's . . . it's the same damn thing. They can't both be Gojiro!

One of the anomalies turned to glance at Tousen, "Damn it, I'm the real one! That dumb ass made a clone!" The other gritted his teeth, his eyes intensifying as he pointed an accusing finger to the other, "Fucking dog, why dontcha cut the bullshit?"

Mikayo watched the two of them and then turned her attention to Tousen.

"Which one's the real one!"

"I don't know!"

"What?"

She turned her eyes back to the confusing sight, realizing the kind of foul play that Eito of the Sharingan could employ. Tousen came to a realization that Gojiro had made it much, much easier for the Sharingan user to emulate his personality than he or Mikayo had from the very start.

His foul mouth was the reason why they were at such a disadvantage all of a sudden.

It looks like they've engaged, Chizu. You're going to be too late.

"No! Stop!"

She yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping they would hear her, the anticipation rising within her like milk in a boiling pot.

They can't hear you.

Kurama's grim assertion made it harder to bear. She pushed herself as hard as she could, but couldn't shake feeling like she was running up a mountain with sand on it that never stopped sliding down its slope.

One Gojiro attacked the other. The real one easily stabbed his kunai through the clone's body and narrowed his eyes as it faded into nonexistence. Not a second later, the ground beneath his feet cracked and opened.

The Iwagakure shinobi were blinded by a shimmering cleaver of blue light that emulated the sound of a thousand birds chirping in unison.

It all made sense in that split second, but it was such a regrettable understanding to have. By making Tousen focus on the two Gojiros to discern the real one, the captain had completely and utterly failed to notice Eito swimming around underground.

Then, when the shadow clone was killed, it relayed everyone's exact location to him in better detail than his sharingan would have, and allowed him to launch that surprise attack quicker than it took a man to blink an eye.

In that same exact fateful moment, Chizu came careening into the clearing, "Stop!" Her voice echoed in everyone's ears.

In Eito's ears.

But it was too late.

Gojiro was cut vertically in half starting between his legs, and the assassin fell back and away before the blood splattered onto his clothes.

From there, all Chizu saw was the pain. The dreaded pain. She saw it in Gojiro's horrifying facial expression, in Mikayo's angry despair, in Tousen's resolve, and in the cold, merciless gleam in Eito's eyes.

"Stop it!" she yelled.

"Don't fight!"

It felt like she was screaming into a barren desert. Nobody could hear her. Gojiro's halves on the floor atop a quick expanding puddle of blood was one of the ugly marks that the pain of loss left behind.

And pain, Chizu knew, was a catalyst. A catalyst . . . for another few hundred years of bloodshed.