AN: I kinda feel as if this story is going downhill a bit. I'm trying to pick it back up but its acting like sand and just slipping through my fingers. I am trying to get to a decent ending and think that it will be there within a few chapters. Tell me what you think!

Chapter 15

Tsunade was shocked by Nikiya's reaction. "It's not a tattoo?" She asked, placing a hand on it to see if it shimmered. It didn't.

"No. It's a mark left by that summon. She said they would leave their mark. I didn't think she meant it literally." Nikiya said with slight annoyance.

"A summon? Nikiya, I need you to tell me what happened." Tsunade said, pulling a notepad out.

Nikiya quickly explained everything up to when she decided to use the scroll. At that point she stopped and sat silently for a few minutes before Tsunade decided to speak again. "What is that scroll, Nikiya?" she asked carefully, pulling Nikiya from her thoughts.

"It's a summon scroll, and a powerful one at that. I found her a week before the Uchiha slaughter. She was trapped in an Akatsuki hideout. I'm not sure how they trapped her or why but when I set her free she told me that I could summon her whenever I needed her. That scroll is what came of our agreement. All that I needed to do was sign my name. What I didn't expect was that since she had never been contracted and since it had been so long, that she'd forget as she did. That is why it used so much of my chakra and why I was found unconscious and injured. I had to fight them. This mark is what she left to signify that we are contracted now. My guess is that it means should either of us need help, we will come to the other's aid without question." Nikiya explain, touching the mark gently and watching it shimmer and move.

"You're partially correct." A deep voice echoed through the room. "The mark is within you. It will only reveal itself when next you use your chakra. I am here to keep you safe until this threat passes. I apologize for what pain I may be causing. It's rather uncomfortable for me too being attached as I am to you." Nikiya looked at the dragon on her waist to see that the head had lifted a bit and was staring at her sleepily.

"Considering she was almost taken, you're not doing a very good job." Tsunade said after taking a long drink of sake to calm herself.

"She was in no life threatening danger then. They didn't want to kill her." The dragon unwrapped itself from Nikiya's waist, relieving the pain from them both as he rested on her lap.

"Any way that I could convince you to help us get these people out of the village so that Kakashi and Nikiya can go about their lives?" Tsunade asked, annoyed.

"Nope." He replied, yawning.

"Why not?!" She yelled angrily.

"You're not my contractor. You have no power over what I will or will not do." He flashed his teeth at Tsunade deviously.

"Does that mean I could ask for help from you?" Nikiya asked quietly.

"You could. I would have to ask mother if it was okay though. She might not appreciate getting involved in something as petty as a war between two villages." He examined one of his claws, picking them clean with a bored expression.

"A war? I thought that they were just after me. What's going on? Tell me all that you know. Please." Nikiya pleaded with the little dragon. He glared at her.

"Begging is not something that becomes one of the dragons. Don't think it will work with us." He continued to glare until she scratched lightly under his chin. The strangest purring sound came from his throat, making Nikiya laugh.

"I apologize for that behavior. I would, however, still like to know what you know about this situation. Who is it that is attacking me?" She asked with determination this time.

"Much better." He muttered, shaking his head to clear it. "I will tell you what I am permitted to. You don't remember the village that you were born in. I can tell that much from when you first summoned us. You see, we have complete access to your mind when we are involved in a summon that powerful. Anyways, when you were in that village, there was a marriage arranged for you. You were to be married to some guy that's now one of the generals when you turned 16. I'm a little hazy on the details really but you disappeared from the village when you were five years old so the marriage never happened. But the guy found out that he couldn't be leader of the village unless he had you. So basically he's coming after you so he can marry you. He has Hoshigakure convinced that you were captured by Konohagakure and they're coming with everything they can throw at you if they can't get a hold of you in the next week. There are another twelve shinobi in the village as we speak according to my sister." The little dragon was staring intently into Nikiya's eyes, merely stressing more the importance of what was going on.

"We need to get those shinobi out of the village. Maybe we'll send one of them back with a message." Tsunade spoke thoughtfully.

"I don't think that they'll listen to a message from anyone but me. Afterall, I am the one that has supposedly been captured. Wasn't there a shinobi that lived after I fought those eight?" She asked Tsunade.

"Yes. He woke up this morning as well actually." She replied.

Nikiya thought for a moment before speaking. "Let me speak with him." She stood, wobbling a bit as she pulled her shirt back on. "I'm hungry. Let's grab some ramen on the way."

"Nikiya, I'm not allowing you to leave. This is a safe-house where no one can detect your chakra signatures or find you." Tsunade explained.

"Tsunade, you don't seem to understand. I'm leaving this place whether you like it or not. I need to keep this village safe. And the best way to do that right now is to get more information and try to solve this peacefully." Nikiya turned away from her and walked out of the room, the dragon flying gracefully behind her.

AN: This chapter was rather entertaining to write actually. I think its because of the little dragon i have yet to name. There will be a nice little conversation between him and Nikki in the next chapter though where i will name him. It's going to be a bit cheesy but hey i pull off cheesy rather well. I apologize for the annoying little parts that totally make no sense and contradict eachother throughout the story that i'm noticing now. Tell me if you like where this story seems to be going. I think that the Pein thing is just going to (to my annoyance) fade away with little to no explanation so i apologize for that as well though i think i just came up with an idea for it :D