Chapter 16

I close my eyes preparing for the hit.
"Eight Trigrams; Sixty-Four Palms!"
"GA-AHHHH!"
I slowly open one eye seeing someone standing in front of me, and both Suna Jonin on the ground. That long brown hair..
"Neji-kun!" I question. He turns his head back smirking confidently at me.
"I will handle these two, you go." He says.
"A-are you sure?" I ask. He nods and faces them again.
"I'll help Neji." Tenten says, running up to us. Neji shakes his head.
"No. Tenten, you must make sure Setsuki gets to wherever she's going." Neji says.
"But-"
"No buts. Go!" Neji orders, then faces the two Jonin slowly getting up. Tenten was hesitant about leaving him. I saw Lee's right hand twitch and he groans.
"What... happened?" He asks, slowly opening his eyes and lifting his head.
"Just hang on Lee-san, we'll be back at the hospital in no time!" I exclaim.
"Hospital?" Lee asks, then looks around at the scene. "Neji, Tenten? What is going on? Why are those Sand ninja attacking?"
"We'll explain later." Neji says. "Now go Setsuki!"
"Yosh-"
"No! Let me fight!" Lee pleads.
"No, Lee-san, you can't fight someone like that.. especially in your condition.." I retort.
"But.. Setsuki-san.."
"Sorry Lee-san.."
"Lets go Setsuki!" Tenten says, tugging on my shirt and jumps off.
"Coming." I say then jump off after her. I felt Lee's head turn back to look at Neji.
"What about Neji?" Lee asks.
"He'll be fine.." Tenten says. "So we're going to the hospital right?"
"Yeah, that's what Gai-sensei sai- What the!" I immediately stop jumping and stare in horror.
"What is it!" Lee inquires then looks up seeing it too. Tenten stops as well.
"What the hell?" She gushes. I take a step back.. giant three headed snakes are not my thing. I watch it crush a few buildings as it moves around.
"... Looks like we're not going to the hospital then.." I mention.
"Yeeaah no. Where should we go then?" Tenten asks.
"Ahhhh!" A Konoha Jonin cries being tossed through the air. He lands with a small slide on the same roof we're standing on. He stands up and holds his left up. I recognize him straight away.
"Komaru-sensei!" I exclaim. He turns around with a 'huh?'.
"Setsuki!" He says. "What are you doing here? Get to the evacuation center now!"
"Evacuation center.. got it!' I say. "Hold on Lee-san, I'm gonna go fast."
".. Alright." Lee replies and puts both hands on my shoulders. I notice blood soaking through the bandages on his left hand but it appears to be dry, it must have been there for a while. I turn my head back to look at him, he seemed to realize what I was looking at then looks away shamefully. I get a slight sad face but then clear my throat and begin running.
"Come on Tenten." I say.
"Huh- hey! Wait up!" Tenten calls and chases.
"I'll come with you to make sure you get there." Komaru-sensei says.
"In that case, someone should go find Neji!" Tenten mentions.
"Neji?" Komaru-sensei asks.
"Yes! But.. Komaru-sensei doesn't know what Neji-kun looks like, do you?" I ask.
"Well no.. not really. But describe him to me."
"Neji has white eyes because he's from the Hyu-"
"Long brown girly hair, scary white eyes, brown shorts and is strong." I quickly say, cutting Tenten off.
"Hyuuga with long brown hair. Got it." Komaru says then jumps off.
"OTHER WAY SENSEI!" I shout. He stops and blinks. Tenten points.
"Right.." Komaru-sensei says, then jumps in the direction Tenten is pointing.

I run up the stairs headed towards the door to the evacuation center when suddenly something grabs my foot, causing me to fall over face first on the stairs. "OW!"
"S-Setsuki! Are you okay!" Lee inquires, trying to get off me.
"Yeah, I-I'm fine." I reply, trying to block out the small pain then stand up, trying to slide him back onto my back, but he fought against it.
"I can walk from here." Lee implies.
"But your crutch..!" I exclaim. Lee shakes his head.
"It is fine, I will manage. Please do not hurt yourself." Lee says, giving me a sympathetic look.
"Guys, hurry up." Tenten calls from the few stairs ahead she was.
"We're coming!" I exclaim, immediately grabbing Lee's good arm and wrapping it around my shoulders. He gives me a questionable look. "What?"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm helping you." I bluntly reply, then look to see what tripped me. It was a vine laying across a step.
"It is fine. I can manage." Lee says, trying to get his arm back.
"Lee this isn't the time! Let her help you!" Tenten shouts. Lee looks down and I felt slightly sad.
"Come on.." I say softly. Lee nods slowly and begins trying to walk but doesn't look up.

It was slow but we managed to get there. Nearly the whole town was in here, and I never realized how big the evacuation centre is.
"SETSUKI!"
"Huh?" I turn my head and see uncle Takashi running toward me.
"Thank goodness you're alright!" He says, wanting to give me a hug but realizes I'm helping Lee so he can't.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I say, then blink a few times. "Wait, weren't you going to come watch my match?"
"Yeah I was on my way when I saw some mysterious men walking around and they were talking about some plan so I got side-tracked." He explains, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh okay."

The entire time we were in there was extremely quiet, and after a few hours Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, Komaru-sensei and a few other Jonin enter, all having sorrowful expressions. Neji was also with them, standing beside Gai-sensei.
"What is it?" Iruka-sensei asks them. They remain silent for a while before Gai-sensei finally speaks up..

"Hokage-sama... has fallen in battle..."