From the balcony seating in the exam arena, Darui could see everything. He glanced over at C on the other side of Ay's chair. Most of the genin were underdeveloped, as they expected. For a moment, Kenkyo had been worried about his genin student being paired against a Suna genin. The genin's sister, Temari, was a wind user. Kankuro, Atsui's opponent, was a known puppeteer. All of the foreign jounin-sensei were seated in the stands below. Samui held Kenkyo's hand from the third row. This was the first time in four years she'd left Kumogakure. For her baby brother, Atsui, she would do almost anything.

C had prescribed her a recently developed anti-anxiety medication that seemed to work well for her. Kenkyo's other genin, G, sat on Samui's other side, hooting and hollering as Atsui walked out. The blond teenager raised his arms, mimicking Killer Bee with over exaggerated movement. Darui slapped a hand over his face.

"Is he serious?" Ay grumbled. "Of all the times to lose decorum."

C lightly laughed from Ay's other side. "I think he's winning the crowd over. Listen to them cheer."

The Suna genin, Kankuro, walked out next, his hands in his pockets, his puppets on his back.

The Konoha proctor raised his hands and clicked his senbon to the side of his mouth. "Kankuro of Suna versus Atsui of Kumo, ready, FIGHT!"

Atsui bounded into the air. Lightning sprung from his sword in an arc. Immediately, the Suna genin moved back and held his hands up.

"I surrender!" Kankuro yelled.

Atsui squealed as he tried to recall his lightning. He rolled to the side to avoid the Suna genin.

"Come on, don't quit now. That's so not hot!" the boy shouted.

The proctor shook his head. "Atsui of Kumo advances to the second round."

Stalking off the arena floor, Atsui threw his hands in the air. Samui looked over her shoulder at Ay. He gave a subtle shake of his head and she remained in her seat. The Suna genin shrugged his shoulders and followed Atsui.

"Something's off. Suna-nin don't quit unless they're dead," Ay said under his breath. "C."

"On it." C closed his eyes. Darui felt his chakra brush over him as he concentrated on spreading his senses. "Several jounin and ANBU level shinobi in the crowd, sir. They're all on edge. I'd guess maybe three hundred? For the stadium. And outside…another four hundred in the immediate block."

Ay nodded. "Darui, start rounding up our personnel and prepare them for evacuation. This is a fight for Konoha, we don't want to be involved. C, take Samui and pack our supplies. Meet us at the rendezvous."

Darui and C clasped their hands over their chests and bowed. "By your word, Raikage-sama."

"Let's be subtle about this, no need to cause alarm."

Shouts and applause erupted from the stadium down the street as Mina stepped outside during her shift. She was on edge, as were most of the hospital staff. Her genin sensei followed her around like two lost puppies. Kuromaru bumped the back of her leg with his head.

"Tell me, Sensei, please. I know something's up."

"You'll know when the time comes," the ninken gruffed.

She sighed and dropped down to a knee. Bumping her forehead against his, she leaned against his side.

"There you two are," Tsume greeted, with a pair of coffee cups in her hand. "You walked away for a second."

"It's my break."

"Get back inside, pup."

"Sensei—"

"Inside," Kuromaru growled, tugging on the hem of her shirt with his teeth.

"Sensei, I'm not going inside until someone tells me what's going on. I'm still a jounin in this village. Even my chuunin medics know what's going on."

Tsume threw her arm around Mina's shoulder. "Act natural. We're going to be invaded by the Sand village and possibly one other. We don't know which. Gekko Hayate was found murdered a few days ago after following a genin medic."

Mina glanced up at Tsume's face as they walked up the steps to the building. "Why wasn't I told?"

"I love you. You're one of my pups. Pack. And pack is pack."

"Tsume," Kuromaru growled in warning.

Cold air conditioning attacked them as they opened the hospital doors. "No. Pack is pack, and what they did isn't right. It's not loyalty. It's a lie."

"TSUME!" Kuromaru barked, letting the sound echo in the empty hospital lobby.

"What who did? Sensei, please. Even nii-san won't say."

"You're going to go back outside in a minute, Mina. To treat the wounded, to be the medic you were born to be. No matter where your life takes you, I want you to remember you are as much a part of the Inuzuka pack as your grandmother and mother were."

A teenage boy with blond hair and a Kumo hitai-ate entered the building. He glanced around for a moment, then stared at Mina's hair. He narrowed his eyes at the green jounin flak jacket on her back and the Konoha hitai-ate on her forehead.

"Sensei! What's going on?"

Tsume ruffled Mina's hair and kicked over a wheeled supply cart. "I told you, silly girl. Invasion. Stock up."

There was an explosion outside of the hospital doors. A woman screamed from the street as a building crumbled.

"Oh my gods," Mina muttered, hurriedly stuffing her pockets with bandages, gauze, and morphine kits.

"Time to go, Kuromaru," Tsume said. "You're just as much my pup as Shisui is." She nuzzled the side of Mina's cheek then bounded out of the hospital.

The blond boy cautiously walked over to her, his staccato steps caught her attention.

"Miss?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Not now, kid, my village is under attack. Go find your sensei."

"You really look like my sister's best friend. She's been missing for a hot while now."

"Kid. Look, I'm not trying to be a bitch, but you need to find your sensei before I lock you in a genjutsu."

He held his hands up in surrender then turned around.

Chaos erupted from the stadium as jounin fought in the stands. Darui made his way to Kenkyo behind the genin holding area. Suna-nin fought against Konoha, their fights interrupted by Oto-nin. Blood painted the sand in the arena as he blocked the occasional kunai. A sixteen year old Kumo genin huddled against the wall of the small building. Her eyes were wide in fear, and she stared sightlessly at the bloody tanto in her hand.

Crimson splattered across her white Kumo vest and onto her cheek. Drops of red coated the once white and silver beads at the ends of her braids. He remembered she had been so proud of them in the hotel. She had giggled with glee at the nostalgia every time they would clack against each other. Her genin teammates had teased her about wearing a hairstyle for younger academy girls. The pride reminded Darui far too much of Mina at that age.

Darui held his hands up. "It's Amai, right? You took down that Oto-nin by yourself?"

"Y-yess, sir," she stuttered.

"You did good, okay. We need to make it back to your sensei to evacuate. Can you move?"

She nodded and gingerly stood up against the wall. Darui offered his hand, and when she took it, he tucked her under his arm. She was favoring her right foot, avoiding placing weight on the left. He cursed under his breath; of all the times not to have a medic.

"Alright kid, I'm going to get you out of here."

"Darui-sama," she started nervously, clinging to his crisp vest.

"What's that, sweetheart?" He blocked another errant kunai. He was practically carrying the girl against his hip. The jounin-sensei was in sight now, off in the trees near the wall with the other genin.

"Atsui is missing. I came over here to find him and congratulate him on his win. He's not here."

Hayai ran out from the tree to meet them. "Oh, Amai, I was so worried," he said, pulling her out of Darui's arms and into his. "Are you hurt?"

"Ankle injury. Is Atsui with you?" Darui asked.

"No, I haven't seen him since the first round. Is he not with you?"

The girl was passed to G, the two teenagers held each other tightly. G murmured quietly while Amai sniffled.

"He's not with us. Ay-sama took the visible route to the main gate to make sure we won't be blamed for this." Darui bit his thumb then slammed it on the ground. Hinagiku's sapphire eyes blinked against the summer sun. The panther trounced to the kunoichi and rubbed her head against her hip. She licked the girl's hand in a quiet solidarity then rubbed her body along her legs.

"Do you have something of Atsui's?"

Amai pet the top of Hina's head while she fished in her kunai pack. "It's his handkerchief, I forgot mine."

"Thanks. Hina, we need to find this boy. Don't be dull and go off on a tirade. We're in a hurry."

Hina mewled at him and bit his hand lightly. She jumped out, placing her massive paws on Darui's shoulders. He grimaced when she licked his face. "Hina! Now!"

She growled a complaint but dropped down and smelled the offered handkerchief in his hand. She scented the air then bounded into the trees. Her tail whipped out and smacked Darui's face as he chased after her.

The wounded continued to pile up. Men were carried in on stretchers loosely wrapped in bandages. They were outside of the ED now, where a ring of Uchiha police officers had surrounded them. All of them were now engaged in battles. The blond Kumo genin was unconscious in a genjutsu on the ground near the ED doors. Every so often, Mina would glance his way; she did warn him after all. At least they could avoid an incident with Kumo if his sensei came to retrieve him before Torture and Interrogation got ahold of him. If they had time.

Sweat beaded on Mina's forehead, and her hands shook with exertion after she treated another patient. Nurse Maiya hovered around her, gods knew where her chuunin medic was. The man from her dreams hid in the corner behind the building, carefully watching. Mina glanced up and met his eyes as she pushed one last burst of chakra into the chuunin under her hands.

"Don't have time for this. Get your head in the game," she muttered to herself. "Going fucking crazy."

"Taichou, black tag?" Maiya asked quietly, holding a sheet up over a Suna-nin.

"Yes, and good riddance."

The man continued to stare at her with widened eyes from the side of the building. His mouth opened then closed. Iron filled the air as more wounded shinobi were brought in by their comrades. A woman wailed over a prone body in the once green grass of the medical gardens.

"Maiya?" Mina yanked open another roll of gauze and pressed it against a man's open wounds.

Maiya grunted and lifted up a bleeding calf while Mina quickly sutured the bleed with chakra stitches. "Yes ma'am?"

"Do you see that white-haired Kumo-nin over there by the corner? Or am I hallucinating from chakra exhaustion?"

Shinobi passed by them in a blur as they worked in tandem. Distant screams and shouts added to the pandemonium as medics bumped against each other. Pink lilies that lined the walkways had been trampled beneath heavy wool blankets as the wounded were laid out on the manicured landscape.

Maiya looked up and squinted against the sunlight. "No ma'am, I see him. I think he might be that genin's sensei. He has a summons with him, looks old enough to be a sensei."

"Hey, Kumo!" Mina hollered over the din as she moved to the next patient. "Come get your genin then get the fuck out!"

"Taichou, he could be an enemy." Maiya pressed gauze around an unconscious kunoichi's arm. "All of our shinobi are occupied."

"If he is an enemy—" Mina grunted as she lifted a shinobi from a gurney, "And that's a big if, because he looks like his eyes are only for that unconscious genin, then I will handle him. I still have kunai. Hold this down."

Maiya nodded and held down the gauze. Wading through the cots and gurneys, Mina quickly ended the genjutsu the Kumo genin was under and waved again to the man.

A large panther sprinted through the wounded ninja and jumped onto Mina's back. Her claws were retracted into her paws as she wrapped her arms around Mina's neck. Petrichor, warm fur, and popcorn assaulted her nose. The breath froze in her lungs, she pressed her hand to her forehead. Hot searing pain split through her head under the weight of the panther.

She was thirteen years old, wearing a new sweater dress and boots. There was a fuschia sequined bow in her hand. Another was in her hair.

"I really think Hina's going to like this one!" she told a small man, whose skin was as dark as the night sky. "It matches the one you put in my hair."

"Hina will try to eat that," he warned in a soothing bass timbre. Every note in his voice was a melody unto itself. His chakra reminded her of sweet peppermints when he hugged her. "Don't let her, it's not good for a leopard's digestion. I have no desire to cut a big cat open tonight."

"Yes, sir. You think Darui will like it?"

The man smirked at her and propped his head up on one hand. "Is there something you want to share?"

"No. Nothing. I just…I was wondering. Is it cute? I look cute right? Hina and I will look cute together."

He knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his. "I think you look beautiful, musume. You will always look beautiful. It's not the outside that makes you that way. It's your heart that makes you beautiful. You glow from within."

Darui couldn't believe his luck. He was never this lucky. The battles and skirmishes around him faded away. All that remained was Mina, flitting from patient to patient. He couldn't breathe; time seemed to stop as he watched her work. Hina bit his hand and whined.

"Hey, Kumo!" Mina yelled. "Come get your genin and get the fuck out."

His heart fell to the floor. She didn't recognize him. She didn't recognize Atsui, a boy who she had known practically from birth. Biting his arm hard enough to draw blood, Hina bolted from his grip.

"Hina!" he called. She jumped onto Mina's back—the damn cat had always liked her better and never listened to him.

Mina pressed a hand to her head and folded over. Pain was written in every line of her face, and she whimpered. He couldn't stop his feet, he couldn't stop himself as he ran to her. Atsui sat up and blinked against the sun. There was a clash of kunai in the distance, an exploding tag from somewhere else. The moans of the wounded surrounded them.

He grabbed Mina by the arms and pulled her into his chest. "Mina," he whispered.

"Taichou!" the petite nurse gasped. The woman screamed. "Help! We're under attack!"

Bergamot, ozone. A deep baritone voice that promised the world whispering her name. Another shot of pain ripped through her mind, and she cried out. She forced the lightning healing jutsu through her head to numb the pain. To her horror, it made it worse. The world was on fire. His arms were warm and familiar around her.

Obito's words rushed to her mind, 'We don't know who attacked you on the bridge. Zabuza's wounds came from a lightning user. I'd bet it was someone from Kumo.'

She shoved him off of her, and the force thrust her back against an instrument tray. The tools clattered against the pavement of the improvised emergency department.

He held his hands out. His lips moved, every word sounded like it was under water. "I'm going to get you out of here."

Mina shook her head and scooted back on her hands. Her brain throbbed in pain. Black specks danced in front of her eyes. Another fissure, another crack when the panther shrugged the teenage boy off her back and laid down next to Mina. She crawled on her belly as Mina scooted away, and whined. Bergamot and ozone surrounded her as the man tried again to put his hands on her.

"I love you." His voice was a thousand leagues under a crashing ocean. He was a light at the end of a tunnel.

"What's wrong with her?" the blond boy asked. "Taichou, we need to go. The nurse ran off for help 'fore I could stop her. One of the police officers…"

"Breathe with me, baby. Breathe," the man commanded.

Her head felt like it was made of air. The black spots grew, blurring the man in front of her. Air was in short supply.

"Breathe, Mina." He stroked a thumb across the bottom of her jaw and along the side of her neck. Pain consumed her, her body was on fire.

"Taichou!" the boy cried out. There was a ring of clashing kunai behind her.

"I'm taking you home." The man's soft voice broke through the din. For the first time in months, she felt truly safe. He wasn't lying to her, unlike everyone else. She chose to succumb to the dark.

Mina felt light on his shoulders as Darui followed Atsui out of the hospital area.

"Thank you, Hina. It's time to go."

The panther growled at him, refusing to go back to the summons realm.

"Sorry, but you need to go."

She growled at him again. In the distance, a giant golden chakra construct rose above the trees and fought against the one-tailed bijuu.

"Don't be dull. I might need the chakra to get us all to safety. I don't know how much I have to spare to keep you here."

Hina whined pitifully and booped Mina's calf with her snout.

"I'll make her safe."

The panther blinked then disappeared into a small puff of cloud.

"Taichou?" Atsui glanced over his shoulder.

"This is dull," Darui muttered. He reached out and tugged Atsui behind a half-destroyed brick wall. He pulled a visitor's map out of his back pocket and laid it on the ground. "We need to avoid most clan grounds. The fighting seems centered around the stadium, here."

"This is so not hot. We're surrounded."

"Not true. The Uchiha clan comprises the majority of the police department. They're scattered around the village assisting with evacuations at the moment. We're going to make a run for it through the Uchiha clan grounds. There's an outlet in the back of it."

"What if someone stops us? A civilian or retiree?"

"Non-lethal takedown, unless it's a shinobi. You know the law."

Atsui nodded. "Can I carry the cleaver?"

Darui startled and raised his eyebrows at Atsui. "What? No."

The teenager shrugged. "Worth a shot."

They crossed the streets in silence, dashing into the alleyways when they came across wary Konoha patrols and antsy Oto invaders. Skirting around the wall of the Uchiha compound, they found a section lower than the others and jumped over it. Mina moaned softly from his shoulder when he landed.

"She sounds like she's still in pain," Atsui whispered.

Darui pressed a finger against his lips to signal silence. The entire compound felt deserted. A small dog with a tawny coat and white legs yipped from someone's porch. He raised his fingers and pointed straight. They sprinted through the raised engawa and koi ponds and came to a stop at a small white fence. Open training fields lay beyond, leading into the forest and the high wall that surrounded the village.

"We're going to take turns. Sprint as fast as you can. If you have weights, drop them now."

Atsui deactivated the thin bracelets on his wrist in a burst of blue chakra. He popped up then dashed in a blur to the copse of trees on the other side. Darui made sure he was well out of sight before deactivating his own wristbands.

"Halt!" a man boomed from behind him.

Darui gently lay Mina on the ground and rose to face the man. He kept a careful eye on his knees and feet, unwilling to cross paths with the sharingan.

"Fugaku Uchiha, right?" Darui asked.

"It's not Daiki, is it? Darui of Kumo?" The man could barely hide the fatigue in his voice.

"You're well-informed. I'm sorry for the deception."

"You can't kidnap our shinobi. I assume you know that." Fugaku's foot shifted back, his hands at the ready.

"Konoha lost all rights to her when they abandoned her to die as a child. She's mine; my partner. I swore to the gods I would never abandon her. I don't break my oaths."

Fugaku inclined his head. Unseen, the ruby iris of his eyes glowed as it spun. "So be it." Light golden strings of chakra surrounded him, morphing into a new form in glowing gold.

Wind assailed Darui's back as Atsui sprinted back and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm here, taichou."

"You've been briefed on the Uchiha?" Darui asked under his breath.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Get her out of here. That's an order."

"But—"

The glowing form engulfed Fugaku, raising his body from the ground as ribs formed. "Susanoo. You won't get far," Fugaku warned.

"Now, Atsui!"

Darui bounded forward, unsheathing the cleaver sword from his back. Sparks erupted along the construct and pushed him back into the grassy field. There was a space between the ribs and the ground. Shuriken flew toward him, but he spiraled out of the way, dodging the errant blades with his sword. The seal embedded into the fence that surrounded the compound with a loud thunk.

Blood dripped down Fugaku's cheeks. His chakra construct weakened under his fatigue from a prior battle. It flickered around him.

Lightning sprang from Darui's hands surrounding the water that pushed from his mouth. A large fireball engulfed the field, leaving pockets of electrified fog from their clash. Hiding in the thick steam, Darui bounded forward. He reached up and kicked beneath the ribs of the susanoo. They cracked, surrounded by the lightning.

Fugaku grunted as the chakra construct evaporated. He dropped to a knee and panted. A door slammed open from somewhere behind them, the swish of a skirt against a door frame. He rose to his feet, grit and determination overriding his previous fatigue.

Sweat dripped down the side of Darui's forehead and mixed with the bloody wound on his shoulder. Atsui was waiting behind the tree line with Mina. If he didn't succeed here, it would take only moments for experienced the experienced jounin of Konoha to track them both down. They would likely kill a genin like Atsui, enslave Mina for the rest of her life, as they were so clearly determined to do. Possess her free will and personal autonomy like they were pocket change; expendable at best. And Atsui? Samui would never survive his death.

A heart beat between them, in the breadth of an instant when Darui met Fugaku's eyes. He didn't even have enough chakra to activate his sharingan anymore.

Darui struck forward with the cleaver blade before Fugaku could even pull the last of his kunai from his pouch. "Sorry," he whispered as Fugaku's lifeless head rolled on the ground.

A woman shrieked in horror from one of the houses. Darui didn't glance back as he sprinted across the field, sheathing his blade as he ran.

"Fugaku!" she screamed.

"I'm sorry," Darui repeated to himself as he jumped into the tree line.

Distant footsteps ran on engawas from the compound while Darui melted into the trees. He vaguely realized blood was still dripping down his arm from a wayward shuriken. By the time he caught up with Atsui, they were thirty miles from Konoha. They silently sprinted to the rendezvous point.

AN: Thank you for reading! If you have time, please leave a comment!

Amai means sweet. Kenkyo means humble. Out of curiosity, how much heartbreak are you all willing to accept in a fic? On a scale of 1-10, let's say 1 is everyone lives a happy ever after and 10 being, even the dog dies like Old Yeller?

Beta'ed by Cherryberry12