Chapter 29: The Destruction of the Leaf Begins!

I didn't go to Sasuke's house that night. Or the next day. Or the day after that. In fact, I completely avoided all things Uchiha and struggled to find some sort of solace in it all. I was holed up in our hotel room and was struggling to find some sort of focus while helping out Hideki and his research but it all felt futile.

It had been weeks since Megumi-sensei had reached out to Akane and still, we had received no further directions. With the Sound teams gone, there was nothing left to research, just news to follow. No leads on Hayate's death but ANBU still wasn't ruling out homicide. As for Dosu, Hayate's demise seemed to have taken it over and as for his other team members, Kyoske hadn't seen them. Megumi-sensei was still putting on airs with the other Jonin as Kyoske made time to trail her too. She was trying to hold face, trying to get us sponsors which Hideki said wasn't as futile as it sounded.

"Even if we don't get to fight, we can still gain interest." Hideki had said. "More jobs regardless."

It was one way of looking at it but of course Kyoske blew raspberries in response which made me giggle and Hideki roll his eyes. Kyoske insisted that we would leave, no turning back, disappear as quickly as we had appeared. He was sure we wouldn't even have time to bid our friends goodbye, but I didn't want to think that way.

"The matches have changed." Hideki said, drawing my attention away from my own darkened screen. I looked up at him, my brow arched.

"Who's fighting who?" Kyoske asked.

"There are question marks by our names but it looks like the Leaf is planning who fights without us in the mix." Hideki said. "First round is Naruto versus Neji."

"It's over!" Kyoske cackled as I shot him a dark look.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Neji and Naruto? That has Naruto's death written all over it." Kyoske continued to laugh. "Goofball versus prodigy? That's like Sasuke versus Naruto."

"He's been training with a Sanin." I said.

"Who Sasuke? Neji? That's even worse!" Kyoske cackled, his hands holding his stomach as he hunched over.

I glared at him. "No, Naruto."

"A Sanin? Who would take that dingbat on?" Kyoske asked.

"Who else?" Hideki sighed. "Jiraiya…who I'm sure has helped him channel his demon spirit."

Kyoske's laughter cut short and he looked over at Hideki, his eyes wide. "No way."

Hideki shrugged and reached up to adjust his dark glasses. "I wouldn't put it past him and Naruto's determined enough to do it too."

"That makes him a force to be reckoned with then!" Kyoske grinned. "I hope we do get to fight and that I get Naruto then."

I smiled. "I thought you wanted to fight Sasuke?"

"If there's even a Sasuke left to fight in the end." Hideki said.

I looked at him. "Why do you say that?"

Hideki glanced over at me from his screen. "Sasuke is fighting Gaara."

My eyes widened as I thought back to the time on the cliff side, where Gaara had appeared out of nowhere. He had been ready to fight right then and there and Kakashi had stopped him. While I hadn't thought twice about it, I wondered if maybe Kakashi had known the line-up all along. It would be a match to see, an Uchiha fighting against the Sand's demon. I could only imagine the thunderous roars from the crowd urging them on, fueling Gaara's rage, making his demon's emotions bubble.

"Oh man…the main event." Kyoske said, sliding his hands together. "Sounds about right."

"Anyone of us against Uchiha would be a fight to see." Hideki said with a firm nod.

"But Gaara…" I swallowed.

"It's a fight to the death, no matter what." Kyoske said before sweat formed on his brow. "I mean as long as he doesn't have to fight me…"

"He'll kill you without hesitation." Hideki said. "At least with Miyuki and myself he'd show some sort of hesitation."

"Gee…thanks." Kyoske sighed.

I turned away from them, my gaze turning out toward the window. Gaara and Sasuke? Was that even fair? They were both capable but Sasuke…did it have to be Sasuke? Why couldn't it be him going up against Naruto? Or Shikamaru? Or even Temari? Why did it have to be Gaara? But of course it had to be. They were the main attraction and I knew if all the Five Nations could have their way, their match would be the only one, broadcast live all over the world.

I shivered at the thought of Sasuke even coming near Gaara and knew that it would take everything in me to keep from running onto the field. Gaara's blood lust, growing ever since their first interaction and though they had come a long way, Gaara was thirstier. What's more, he knew that there was something brewing between Sasuke and me and I was sure whenever he delivered the final blow, he's find me in the crowd to give me one final look before he ended it.

I stood up, the blood rushing to my head instantly, making me dizzy as my stomach turned. I had to get some air, had to get out of our stuffy hotel room. I started for the door.

"Miyuki, where you going?" Kyoske called.

I opened the door and glanced back at them. "I need some air."

"Don't forget we might find out if today is the day we—"

I shut the door, not wanting to hear the rest of it. Hideki had been speaking and while I felt bad for cutting him off, I continued walking and didn't stop until I was in the heart of Konoha and its midday traffic, walking without any purpose whatsoever. I felt lost almost, unable to shake all that had happened in the past few weeks and wrap my head around the truth. It just all felt like too much to handle and Jiraiya's words haunted me.

He knew what I was capable. He knew what kind of company I kept, which as strange as it all sounded, made me a little nervous. I wasn't sure what he meant exactly, but I knew it could mean a number of different things and maybe that was what it really was, the endless possibilities stretching out in front of me.

"Alright Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's voice rang out, startling me and making me stumble. I swung around to face it and found Team 7 huddled in Ichiraku's stand, their backs to me as Naruto raised his bowl of ramen high above his head, a big grin on his face.

"Easy, Naruto." Kakashi chuckled while a vein pulsed in Sakura's forehead.

"Why are you so loud? You could wake the dead!" She growled, pulling Naruto down by the collar of his jacket.

"Idiot." Sasuke mumbled.

"Kakashi-sensei says it's his treat! So we have to eat up!" Naruto smiled.

"I think you've eaten enough for all of us." Sakura said dryly.

Kakashi pulled out his wallet and looked down at it, opening up a flap with a sigh.

"One more bowl! That's all I need!" Naruto said before downing what looked like his third bowl.

"Geez…where does he put it all?" Sakura asked.

"It goes to his head, can't you tell?" Sasuke said, seeming impatient.

"Seems strange doesn't it?" Megumi-sensei's voice drifted down from beside me. I froze at the sound of her voice but managed a quick glance in her direction.

She was half obscured in the shadows and her eyes had a dark tint in them as she watched Team 7 dine.

"It's almost like we're not needed." Megumi-sensei continued. "As if we could leave right this moment and everything would be alright."

"That's called life." I managed.

She was silent for a moment and as Naruto called for another bowl, Kakashi started digging through his wallet for money while Sakura eyed the bill and Sasuke slid out from his seat.

"We're leaving." Megumi-sensei breathed. "On the day of the exam."

I swung around to face her fully but found that she was gone and as her voice settled into place around me, tears lit my eyes. That was in a few days, just a few more days. In just a few more hours everyone would be walking to the arena except for my team and what could we do but watch them go?

"Miyuki?"

I turned only to find Sasuke walking toward me, his expression still impossible, his gait calm and a bit relaxed, his hands in the pockets of his shorts. His dark hair had a dark blue tint to it in the now setting sun and his eyes were still impossible dark but they seemed a bit softer.

I didn't know what to say or do. Avoiding him was impossible and now…now it was set in stone. We were leaving and who knew when or if we'd ever cross paths again. I wanted to run to him and at the same time away from him. I wanted to burst into tears and at the same time throw myself into his arms. But, I stared straight ahead, struggling to keep my emotions in some sort of check.

"Hey." I managed.

He hadn't attracted everyone else's attention and now he was standing in front of me, staring down at me and I swore my heart couldn't beat any faster.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

My eyes welled up, the tears making my eyes blurry and in that moment, I threw myself at him, my arms wrapping around him as if for dear life and I wished, wished with all my might that we could just run away from it all. I wished that we could just run away and never look back and go and find a place where the two of us could live and not have to be bothered with anything.

But, I also knew that would never happen and for now, as I cried into his chest, I knew I would have to somehow find the strength to settle for the time we had left instead.

"Good luck." I managed before getting up on my tip-toes and planting a soft kiss on his lips.

He held me close, his grip on my waist firm. When I pulled away and lowered myself, one of his hands cupped the side of my face and he tilted my head back so that he could plant a firmer kiss against my lips.

My heart raced, my knees wobbled too. It was the kind of kiss that knocked you off your feet and left you wanting more but I knew by the way Kakashi cleared his throat a moment after, our time was up. Sasuke pulled away, his breathing a little heavy and I stared up at him, feeling the heat on my cheeks. He let his hand slide down my jawline before he stepped away from me.

"You sure about finding your own way in?" He asked, taking his spot beside Kakashi.

I smiled, feeling the hot sting of tears building behind my eyes. We had fled from Ichiraku's last night and gone back in his apartment, I practically molded myself against him, wanting nothing more than for the two of us to somehow become one. We had woken early but he had insisted that he needed to go and train and that I didn't need to go with him, but I had insisted and wound up watching. Before we knew it, we were late for the exam but Kakashi had planned a speedy entrance. Now, they were ready to go and I was holding them back.

"I don't want to ruin your big, bold entrance." I managed.

Sasuke smirked and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his black one piece with small belts adorning his left arm and similar black bands on his legs. His hair was so long and while I had insisted on giving him a haircut last night, he told me that there would be plenty of time for it after it all and that almost made me cry all over again.

"See you in there." He said before both Kakashi and he disappeared into a smoke cloud. I held my breath until they appeared inside and after a brief moment of hesitation, suddenly there was a thunderous applause filling the stadium and my chest tightened all over again.

"It's done." Megumi-sensei's voice said from beside me.

I swallowed, wiping at my eyes with my arm.

"Man…" Kyoske sighed, running a hand through his hair. "What a bummer."

"Maybe next time we'll see him fight." Hideki said.

"What's the verdict with the fighting in there?" Kyoske asked.

"Naruto won against Neji…landslide victory actually. Didn't look so good at first but then he channeled the Nine Tails after all." Hideki said.

"You should be a psychic." Kyoske said, making Hideki shrug in response.

"What about everyone else?" Megumi-sensei asked.

"Shikamaru forfeited his match." Hideki said. "They were getting ready to make Kankuro and Shino fight until now most likely."

"It's just like Kakashi to be fashionably late." Megumi-sensei said, a ghost of a smile lighting her lips.

"We can't even stay to like…peek?" Kyoske asked.

Megumi-sensei shook her head. "No, no time."

We all sighed then, but I turned away first, unable to keep staring at the stadium and hearing their chants from inside. Uchiha! Uchiha! It all made me sick.

"Let's get going then." Kyoske sighed. "Faster we get there the faster we can put this all behind us."

Hideki handed me my back pack and I slid it on as we began our walk to the front gates. I felt terrible, a hole forming in my chest, but I pushed forward. No more Sasuke. No more Sakura and Naruto. Maybe one day we'd see each other again but who knew how long until then? Would Sasuke be mad? Sad? Did he even have any other emotion other than anger? Would he hold a grudge against me? Would he blame me for everything?

"Hold on." Hideki's voice cut through my thoughts and we all froze, before slowly turning back to face him.

"What's wrong?" Kyoske asked, breaking the silence.

"Something's not right." Hideki said, looking around.

We all took a moment to look around carefully, but it didn't take long to realize that he had a point. It wasn't so much that the streets were empty because we expected everyone to be locked away in their homes or huddled in shops to watch the live coverage of the Chunin Exams. But, there was something eerie hanging in the still air and it made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. I couldn't put my finger on it, couldn't quite place the feeling, but it was looming.

"I just had to see you pieces of trash for myself."

I froze at the sound of that voice, the familiarity bringing me back to the time we had been with Orochimaru. I had a distant memory of that voice, taunting and abrasive, holding nothing but contempt and with a face to match it all. I remembered the voice sitting high in the alcove of our main hideout, its hateful eyes trained on me as I stood proudly beside Orochimaru.

"Doesn't look like much of a big deal to me." It had uttered.

"Looks can be deceiving." Orochimaru had responded, a hand coming down on my shoulder, giving me a reassuring squeeze. I had stood straighter with his touch and looked up timidly at the voice surrounded in darkness.

But, as I looked up at it now, no at her now, nothing much had changed. She was still very much like a boy and after not taking my crude advice to just cut it off and be done with it, her hair was still as untamed and unapologetic against her fair skin as it had been since the last time we had met. Her eyes were still their cruel shade of dark brown and instead of her usual impassive look, she was sporting an amused one this time as she looked down at us from her position atop a light post.

"Th-there's no way." Kyoske breathed, his eyes wide.

"Who is she?" Megumi-sensei asked, her hands in tight fists at her sides.

Of course, Kyoske had every right to be shocked. Back when we had last seen them, we had been living with them in the hideout, constantly pitted against each other and them in some cruel act of sportsmanship. They would beat and taunt us but her cruelty and hatred toward me was greater. Orochimaru had moved on, taking a few of us with him and leaving the rest behind. He had said we were ready for the next step, which was something she and her comrades had never liked to hear. They had watched us go, hatred burning in their eyes and I had told myself that I had never been more satisfied.

But, it was different now and seeing her here after all these years…

"Tayuya." Hideki breathed and looked like he was seeing a ghost.

She smirked and folded her arms across her chest, seeming satisfied.

"Wh-what are you doing here?!" Kyoske squeaked, his teeth clenched.

Tayuya threw her head back and cackled, making my skin crawl. I glared up at her in response and when she was done laughing, she looked right at me.

"I already told you that." Tayuya said. "Geez, after all this time I wouldn't have thought that I'd have to spell it out for you."

"What do you want?" I shouted. "Why are you hear?!"

Her small smirk turned cruel at the edges and she looked at all of us before pointing toward the stadium. Slowly, our gazes followed the length of her arm just in time to watch the Hokage's box go up in smoke. My stomach sank as another explosion shot out from the side of the stadium, making the wall crumble, debris shooting out.

"No!" Megumi-sensei growled.

"I'm here to watch this pitiful village burn." Tayuya smiled.

"Why you little!" Kyoske pulled out a kunai and shot it toward Tayuya who blocked it with ease and then fired off a kunai of her own, on that she had concealed in her dress. She fired it toward me and I didn't even flinch as it sliced across my cheek, not even giving her the satisfaction. She had never been good with Genjutsu and while her kunai had been good, her clone was not.

"Where's your real body?" I spat as I felt the blood begin to drip from my fresh wound.

Tayuya's smile turned darker. "I don't know. Why don't you come and find me?"

Another explosion rumbled from within the arena and we all looked up at Megumi-sensei who was looking a little pale.

"She works for Orochimaru." Hideki breathed. "And there's more of them."

"The Hokage…" Megumi-sensei growled.

"Sensei, what do we do?" Kyoske asked.

That was when I saw them, coming through as quick as a speeding bullet. First, Gaara and then Sasuke. I was about to shout out to both of them when sand shuriken came out of nowhere. We scrambled and looked up only to find Temari, Kankuro and Baki standing on top of a building.

"What are you going?!" Megumi shouted up at them. "The Third Hokage is being attacked back there and you idiots are here?!"

"Sensei…" Hideki mumbled, his voice low.

Temari smirked. "We're operating on different orders now."

I looked up to see other Sand shinobi jumping from building to building but behind them were other shinobi in camouflage attire with musical notes on their forehead protectors. They ran side by side, shoulder to shoulder, their focus set on the stadium.

"Diff—" Megumi-sensei seemed both disgusted and confused all at once and she took a step back until she saw what was holding our attention. Immediately, she put two and two together and she looked at Baki, not bothering to censor her disappointment.

"How could you?" She spat.

Baki shook his head. "Orochimaru gave us a promise."

"At what cost!?" Megumi-sensei shouted.

"No cost." Baki said. "Not on our part."

"How do you know that?!" Kyoske shouted.

"Shut up, Kyoske." Kankuro growled.

"It's about time a more capable power became top dog, don't you think Megumi?" Baki asked.

"You're allies!" Megumi-sensei growled.

"It's not too late." Baki called. "You can join us. It shouldn't be too hard for your students considering they were once with Orochimaru as well. It's going to be a new world soon, Megumi. I'd get on board before it's too late."

Megumi-sensei was trembling with rage as she glared up at Baki and I swore I had never seen her eyes harness such hatred before. She was so mad, her face was flushed.

"I'd rather die." She managed through tight lips twisted up with disgust.

Baki chuckled. "I was counting on that." He turned toward Temari and Kankuro who were getting ready to fight us. "No, you two continue on after Gaara, you know what to do."

"Right." Kankuro said and they were off.

"No!" I shouted.

"Miyuki." Hideki said, a hand coming down gently on my wrist. "You go after Sasuke. And we'll stay with sensei."

"No." Megumi-sensei growled, her eyes never leaving Baki face. "I'll handle Baki. Kyoske and Hideki you protect the Hokage."

The boys nodded and I didn't wait as I darted off after the Sand Genin. My heart was pounding in my chest and even though my stomach was turning itself into tight knots, nothing beat the way my anger coursed through my veins, making a vein in my forehead pulse. I was furious at the Sand, allies of the Great Leaf nation and now what was left of it? They had betrayed them and for what? The empty promises of an equally empty man? Who knew what Orochimaru had done behind their backs and who knew what Gaara and the others planned on doing to Sasuke. They'd capture him for sure or worse when it came to Gaara.

I was at the village gates, empty from all protection as Sound and Sand shinobi ran in, slaying any Leaf shinobi they came into contact with. It was a blood bath but I could see the Leaf fighting back in small areas. Women and children fleeing behind buildings, the men sealing up homes quickly before running for cover. The village was evacuating and it would only be a matter of minutes until it would all be clear, until no civilian was left behind and the real fighting could begin.

I pulled out a kunai and fought with a few Sound shinobi, even kicking back a few Sand shinobi as well. I dispatched a few and was almost near the front entrance when a shadow came out of nowhere and before I had a chance to defend myself, something was pushed into my chest. I gasped, my eyes going wide as the sheer force of whatever pierced through me sent me back and I landed, hard, on the ground.

I blinked up at the clear blue sky, feeling a bit dazed before something stepped into my view and I looked over at it as the shadow of whatever had stabbed me loomed. The figure beside me reached down and pulled the piece out of me and my eyes widened as I realized the object was sharp and was as white as Jiraiya's hair. But then, there was something off about it. Not exactly a blade, but something more, the side a little curved. I followed the length of the weapon, now dripping me with my blood and coughed up blood when I caught sight of who was on the other end.

"K…Kimi…Kimimaro."