I tried to make this chappy a bit longer than the last one, just coz I'm so happy with all of the voting and commenting you guys have been doing! Thank you xD

Pic of Kakashi  --->

Third Person’s POV

“Kakashi Sensei!” Sakura cries happily, her eyes wide and sparkling as she sees the silver haired man appear behind Ashley, having protected her from one of the Centipede’s fireballs with a Water Jutsu.

“Good timing for once Sensei” Naruto chuckles, trying to hide the relief that he’s feeling. Now that Kakashi Sensei was with Ashley, surely the two of them would be able to defeat the Centipede. Kakashi had never let his students down before, and Naruto was sure the Jonin would have a trick or two up his sleeve.

“Hey look!” Tenten speaks up, pointing to another screen. “Neji found Kyoku too!”

“Now they will defeat this monster for sure!” Lee grins, punching a determined fist into the air. “Come on Neji!”

Kiba can’t help sighing with relief as Ashley runs over to her Sensei, clearly overjoyed to see him. Since her Wolf had exhausted himself to the point of collapsing, at least now his Angel would have the reliable back up of Kakashi. If anyone could help her survive through this chaotic ordeal, it was him.

“Hey….” Ino murmurs slowly, squinting her teal eyes up at the screen focusing on Ace. “What……What’s that?”

“Hmm?” Naruto asks, a question mark appearing above his head. He glances between the six screens quickly, unsure of what he’s meant to be looking for. “What’s what?”

“It’s……It’s that girl from the Grass Village!” Sakura gasps, pointing as Peikirin drops down from the trees, landing on one knee. She glances around, her mouth pulled up into a creepy grin, before rising to her feet and drawing the sword that is strapped to her back.

A couple more people in the large crowd gasp as the blonde girl turns around and runs towards Ace, obviously picking him as her target due to his exhausted state.

Everyone watches as Ashley suddenly whirls around, baring her teeth viciously as soon as she spots Peikirin sprinting towards her Guardian. Not a moment later, Ashley darts forwards, fury burning in her one visible eye. Her friends knew that there was no way Ashley was going to allow anyone to threaten the life of her beloved Ace and live to see another day.

As Ashley leaps between Peikirin and Ace, time seems to suddenly begin moving in slow motion for Kiba, his eyes widening with horror as the tip of Peikirin’s sword stabs right through Ashley’s mid section. He freezes as blood spurts from the wound, Ashley stumbling backwards while the crazed Peikirin forces her sword all the way through Ashley, only the hilt now visible.

A simultaneous gasp of trepidation sounds through the crowd of Leaf Ninja and Villagers alike, as Kakashi calls to Ashley and runs towards her, while Ace howls and struggles to push himself to his feet.

Kiba feels the blood in his veins turning to ice as Ashley coughs up a large amount of blood, her troubled fuschia eye focused on the maniacal, grinning face of Peikirin. ‘There’s no way that just happened’ Kiba thinks wildly, his heart beating loudly against his ribcage. ‘Angel was not just been run through with a sword…It isn’t real….It…It can’t be real!’

“Ashley!” Sakura screams in horror, her hands flying to her mouth as Ace roars furiously and leaps at Peikirin, tackling her to the ground. “Ashley!”

“No….” Naruto whispers, his blue eyes wide with panic. “That….That’s just a clone…..It has to be a clone…”

Ino and Choji gape at the screen in disbelief, the blonde girl shaking her head at the same time. Like Naruto had said, surely that was just a clone. There’s no way the real Ashley would be so easily hurt by a girl like Peikirin.

“Naruto i-is right” Lee speaks up uncertainly, brows furrowed with concern. “That is obviously just a clone. Ashley would not allow herself to be harmed like tha-”

“She would do it for Ace” Kiba speaks up lowly, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “She’d s-sacrifice herself for any of her Wolves…..But especially h-him….”

Sakura stares at Kiba through tear filled eyes, seeing the way his hands are balled into tight fists, his knuckled turning white. Though clearly disturbed by the image of the sword pierced right through his girlfriend’s mid section, he’s unable to tear his eyes away from the screen, desperately hoping she’ll be alright.

He watches as Ashley stares down at the sword through dazed eyes, shakily raising her right hand and placing it on the hilt.

“No!” Tenten shrieks, gripping Lee’s right arm tightly. “Don’t pull it out Ashley! She’ll injure herself even more and bleed out!”

Kiba bites his lip, as Kakashi appears beside Ashley, gently placing his hand on top of hers to stop her from ripping the blade out of her body. As she goes to reply, blood dribbles from her mouth, her face beginning to pale.

“Angel!” Kiba can’t help calling out, his eyes wide as Ashley’s legs suddenly give out from underneath her. Kakashi grabs the girl by her shoulders before she can drop however, slowly lowering her down to rest on her hands and knees in the water.

Sakura, Tenten and Ino all wince as Ashley crushes her broken hand against the wound, rebreaking the bones she’d already tried to heal. Her right arms trembles as she leans on it, eyes scrunched closed in pain.

“Kill the Wolf!” everyone hears Peikirin shriek madly, using her unusual strength to kick Ace away from her, sending him flying through the air. Ashley lifts her head, just in time to see the Wolf collide heavily with the ground, unconscious, when he suddenly disappears in a puff of smoke.

“Where is her strength coming from?” Sai wonders out loud, brows furrowing slightly. “She was not this strong earlier….”

“I don’t know and I don’t care!” Kiba growls, now unable to hide how scared he is for Ashley’s life. “All I know is that Angel needs a medic now!”

“Why doesn’t she just heal herself?” Ino asks quietly, flinching back as Kiba turns to give her a nasty glare.

“Do you think you’d be able to heal yourself if you had one broken hand and a sword through your stomach?!” he snaps. “She’s obviously in a lot of pain, or I’m sure she’d already be doing that Ino!”

“Okay, sorry….” the platinum blonde apologises quietly, looking away. Choji places a comforting hand on her shoulder, as he steps forwards and gives Kiba a hard look.

“I know you’re concerned for Ashley and everything” he begins seriously, “But that’s no reason to snap at Ino. She’s worried too you know.”

“So what?” Kiba retorts, glaring at Choji for a moment, before whirling back around to stare up at the screen. “It’s not the one that she loves that’s up there, it’s the one that I love….”

“…..She’s probably going into shock as well” Sakura speaks up softly, green eyes wavering. Though she was incredibly upset about Ashley’s awful injury, Sakura couldn’t help feeling a little heartsick for Kiba as well. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for him, seeing the girl he loves fighting for her life. And it’s not like he could even help her, seeing as she was so far away.

‘He must be feeling so helpless right now….’ Sakura thinks to herself sadly as she briefly closes her eyes, before looking back up at the screen. ‘I feel helpless too…..’

Tenten can’t help the frightened squeak that escapes her lips as Peikirin leaps to her feet and suddenly races towards the severely injured Ashley, wanting to finish her off.

Before anyone can react, Kakashi swiftly slides in front of Ashley, a murderous glint in his visible eye as glares at Peikirin.

The blonde skids to a halt, watching as blue lightning begins to spark around his hand, the shrieking of his Jutsu so loud that even the people watching the fight can hear it.

“C’mon Kakashi Sensei” Naruto whispers encouragingly. “You’ve gotta protect Ashley-chan….”

Peikirin hoods her eyes, placing her hands together and muttering some words under her breath. Kakashi, seeing that the girl is about to perform a Jutsu, leaps forwards and stretches his sparking right hand out, aiming to kill Peikirin swiftly.

The girl is suddenly enveloped in a cloud of white smoke however, cutting off his vision and making him skid to a halt. As soon as Peikirin leaps out of the cloud of smoke however, Kakashi is right on her tail, clearly a lot faster than the young girl is.

“Kakashi Sensei!” Sakura shouts urgently, wishing he could hear her. “Turn around! Turn around!”

Kiba’s eyes widen in panic, seeing another Peikirin leap from the cloud of smoke and charge towards Ashley, whose head is hanging low to the ground, her still dripping blood mixing with the water around her.

Seeming to hear the girl running for her, Ashley slowly lifts her head, sweat dripping down the side of her face. She stares up at Peikirin as the girl skids to a halt and grins down at her evilly, pink eyes flashing.

“Die!” the girl screeches maniacally, causing all of the watching Leaf Ninja to begin shouting desperately up at the screen.

“Die!” Peikirin screams down in Ashley’s face, the injured blonde unable to react quick enough to move. She inhales another ragged breath, trying not to choke on the blood in her throat as she bows her head and closes her eyes.

‘Who would have thought?’ Ashley wonders wryly, feeling somewhat sleepy. “After everything I’ve been through and all the stupid things I’ve ever done, this is the pathetic way I’m going to go….’

“I already told you” comes Kakashi’s voice, barely audible over the sudden chirping noise Ashley hears right in front of her. Lifting her head, Ashley’s eyes widen as she sees Peikirin still standing before her, though Kakashi’s electrified hand has pierced through her heart. The girl was dead, Kakashi’s arm being the only thing still holding her up.

“The only one that’s going to die here, is you” Kakashi finishes his sentence darkly, retracting his hand from Peikirin’s dead body and watching as the corpse slumps to the ground, its eyes wide open.

“K-Kakashi Sen-Sensei….” Ashley manages to choke out, before wincing in pain and dropping her head. Kakashi narrows his eyes at Ashley, taking in her seriously injured form, his hands balling into tight fists.

“No one tries to kill my students” the silver haired Jonin growls lowly as he turns around, only to come face to face with three more grinning Peikirins. “No one!”

“You can’t stop us” the three girls hiss, two of them drawing swords from their backs. “Revenge!”

Kakashi places his hands together in a hand sign as the three girls leap in different directions, determined to make this as difficult as possible for him. He wasn’t going to be duped so easily however. While the girls had him outnumbered, Kakashi was a former ANBU Black Ops member and had more experience than this Grass Ninja could ever hope to have. He wasn’t about to let her kill his old student.

“Water Style: Water Beast!” Kakashi shouts, sending out a large amount of chakra into the surrounding water, before suddenly leaping to the left, aiming for one of the girls that is brandishing a sword.

“Flame Beheading!” the girl laughs crazily, swinging her blade at Kakashi and sending an arc of flames soaring towards him. As the flame is about to collide with the incoming Jonin, a huge Wolf-like creature made of water leaps in front of Kakashi, shielding him from the blast.

The fire sizzles as it reacts with the watery creature, steam rising from its side. The flames fizzle out harmlessly, before the Water Beast throws its head back and roars. Kakashi then leaps over the Beast, flinging a handful of shuriken at Peikirin. She raises her blade and swings it around, deflecting the shuriken as the Water Beast takes off, charging towards the other girl with a sword.

Ashley glances up as the girl raises her sword, grinning maniacally and giggling uncontrollably to herself.

“Chop off her head!” the girl laughs, to which Ashley painfully sits up on her knees, groaning in pain. She shakily raises her right arm, sweeping it an upwards motion, eyes watering from the pain of having to move.

“Eeeeeeekkk!” Peikirin shrieks, a blast of wind blowing her high into the air, only for the Water Beast to leap up and catch her in its mouth. It lands back on the ground with a boom, shaking the screaming girl back and forth viciously.

“Unghh…” Ashley grunts, before freezing and sucking in a sharp breath. Moving around with a sharp sword through her mid section was not exactly what she’d call pleasant.

‘I’m gonna have to try and pull this out’ Ashley thinks, screwing her face up at the thought. ‘It’s gonna hurt like a bitch, but if I can just pull it out with my left hand, I can use my right hand to try and heal myself as I go-’

Ashley is suddenly shaken out of her thoughts, eyes widening as the real Peikirin suddenly appears right in front of her. She gives Ashley a dark smile, her hooded eyes twinkling with maliciousness.

“Bye bye” she whispers, before swiftly reaching out and grabbing onto the hilt of her sword. Before Ashley can react, Peikirin wrenches the sword backwards, tearing it out of Ashley’s body and making the girl scream in pain.

“Ashley?” Kakashi calls, glancing back over his shoulder. His visible eye widens with horror as he sees Ashley reeling backwards, Peikirin holding the bloodied sword above her head and laughing psychotically.

“Ashley!” Kakashi shouts worriedly, only to throw his arms up and clap his hands together, catching the second Peikirin’s sword between his palms.

‘Revenge….’ the girl chuckles lowly, her sword shaking as she tries to pull it from Kakashi’s grip. A drop of sweat slides down Kakashi’s face, as he hears Ashley’s screaming subside, though Peikirin continues to laugh. A loud roar echoes behind him, before the real Peikirin is suddenly tackled by Kakashi’s Water Beast.

“Not today” he growls, suddenly ducking down and throwing out a leg. He spins around, sweeping Peikirin’s feet out from beneath her. As the girl falls, Kakashi brings up his knee, cracking it against her back and sending her flying up into the air.

Placing chakra into his feet, Kakashi bends his knees and leaps up into the air, glaring dangerously at Peikirin as he appears beside her.

“You’ve really made me angry” he drawls darkly, grabbing the now screaming Peikirin by her ankles and flipping her upside down, head facing the ground.

Wrapping one arm around her legs, Kakashi holds the girl’s torso between his knees and drives her towards the ground. The wind whistles past his ears, blocking out any other sounds as the two Ninja fall to the earth.

Timing his movement just right, as soon as the top of Peikirin’s head touches the ground Kakashi pushes away from her, to add a little extra force to the hit. The silver haired Jonin flips backwards through the air, landing easily on his feet as Peikirin’s head cracks loudly against the ground, her neck snapping instantly.

Her eyes bulge out as her mouth hangs open, before the girl topples to the ground, dead.

“I hope you enjoyed the Falcon Drop” Kakashi mutters sarcastically, before turning on his heel and racing towards Ashley. He narrows his eyes as the real Peikirin manages to get away from his Water Beast, while the other clone slashes at its neck with her sword.

With a roar, the Water Beast is dispelled, spraying water in all directions. The real Peikirin pauses for a moment, before turning her head and glaring over at the incoming Kakashi.

“You killed my Mirror Clone!” she shrieks angrily, wielding her sword at Kakashi. “Kill! Kill!”

As Peikirin runs for Kakashi, the ground suddenly begins quaking violently, causing the girl and her clone to fall to the earth, tumbling around ungracefully. Kakashi skids to a halt, managing to stay upright by focusing some chakra into his feet.

Ashley, lying on her back, cracks open one eye, only to see the Centipede looming high above her. It screeches wildly, as a wave of intensely concentrated chakra hits it in the face, the force of the attack so strong that the colossal insect staggers backwards.

“Good shot Neji” Kakashi murmurs to himself, before a low groan from Ashley drags his attention down to her. His eyes widen slightly, seeing the blood pooling around her, the girl’s injury bleeding more freely now that the sword has been removed and she’s lying in water.

Kakashi swiftly bounds over to the younger Jonin, using one hand to rifle through the pouch strapped to his left thigh. He kneels down beside Ashley, using his other hand to gently lift her head, helping her into a sort of sitting position.

“Ashley” Kakashi addresses softly, troubled by the glazed over look in her eye. “Ashley, I need to bandage you up. You’re bleeding pretty badly.”

Ashley merely breathes in raggedly, small trickles of blood dripping from her mouth as she stares up at her Sensei. She jerks up and hisses sharply however, when Kakashi begins wrapping some bandages around her stomach, gripping onto his sleeve tightly with her right hand.

“Th-That won’t….help” Ashley chokes out, brows furrowed in pain. “I need…..I need to h-heal myself……”

“I doubt that girl will give you the chance” Kakashi replies seriously, struggling to bandage Ashley’s wound quickly and not hurt her at the same time. “She’s not that injured, so this will be a quick bandaging job. I’ll fix it later when she’s gone.”

“S-Sensei” Ashley wheezes, scowling at the feeling of blood bubbling in her throat. “D-Don’t kill the r-real one….”

“What?” Kakashi asks incredulously, gently scooping Ashley up into his arms. He wanted to get her out of the water, so her blood wouldn’t flow as swiftly. “Why not? They’re trying to kill you! Look at what they’ve done!”

Ashley hisses in pain again as Kakashi lies her down on the raised patch of earth she had made for Ace earlier.

“Lady Ts-Tsunade said” she pants, closing her eyes, “Not to….not to kill anyone….We d-don’t need any reper…..cussions…….”

Kakashi frowns down at Ashley as she falls silent, chest rising up and down with the effort of trying to breathe. Did she really mean that? After everything this girl had done to her, Ashley still didn’t want him to kill her?

After a moment, Kakashi smiles to himself, shaking his head.

‘Here’s hoping Lady Tsunade will be proud’ he thinks to himself, turning around and trying to spot Peikirin and her remaining clone. ‘Even after all of this, Ashley is still trying to keep her promise of not killing anyone…..’

Suddenly spotting the two girls a fair distance ahead of him, both of them struggling to stand due to the shaking ground, Kakashi races towards them. He’d do as Ashley asked and not kill the original Peikirin, but he was sure going to enjoy killing the clone.

As Kakashi runs off, the Centipede screeches furiously again, causing Ashley’s eyes to open. Staring up at the smoke filled sky, Ashley slowly turns her head to the right, eyes suddenly spotting the Centipede. Hit by yet another wave of chakra, the insect’s head is jerked to the left. It wasn’t getting injured by these hits, but Neji’s attacks clearly had a lot of force behind them, and even the Centipede was having trouble pushing forwards through the barrage.

Ashley’s brows furrow as she continues staring at the Centipede, Neji’s attacks pushing it closer and closer towards her location. Though the ever increasing quaking of the earth would make it hard to do anything, maybe if Ashley could get close enough, she could……

“I have to….H-Heal myself” Ashley tells herself, scowling in pain as she shakily raises her hands and places them together, performing a sign. Unable to help crying out in pain, due to having to move her broken fingers, Ashley’s right hand begins glowing with a soft, green aura. Her left hand wouldn’t be of any help, and she didn’t have the time to try and heal it again.

Placing her right hand down on her stomach, the bandage already soaked with blood, Ashley begins trying to heal her injury as best as she can. It was already a nasty laceration that Ashley wouldn’t be able to fully heal on her own, but with all of the blood loss and barely any use of her left hand, Ashley knew she wouldn’t be able to help herself much.

‘I have to try though’ she thinks determinedly, gritting her teeth as she slowly begins healing her injury. ‘I’ll try to stop the blood from flowing, and then I’ll just have to fight through the pain.’

‘You’re going to kill yourself’ Hakuba informs Ashley bluntly, unimpressed. ‘And if you die, then so do I brat.’

‘So what?’ Ashley retorts. ‘At least I’ll be able to save Kakashi Sensei, Kyoku and Neji. Saving my friends is all that matters now.’

‘So selfless’ Hakuba chuckles sarcastically. ‘Even if you could heal this injury properly, you’ll still be putting too much strain on your body. Humans aren’t built to withstand such pressure. Don’t be a hero.’

‘You always tell me to prove myself to you’ Ashley growls internally, scrunching her eyes closed in pain, ‘And I’m willing to let myself die to save my friends here, so stop trying to convince me not to! I’m not trying to be a hero, I just think I’ll have an opening to attack and finally kill this thing!’

Hakuba remains silent, seeming to mull this over as Ashley continues trying to heal herself, though she’s beginning to feel rather light headed.

‘Who knows what the extent of the internal damage is…’ Ashley thinks with a pained sigh, briefly closing her eyes. ‘I don’t have enough knowledge of the internal human body to even begin guessing…..I wish Sakura was here. She’d know what would be best to do….’

Ashley’s eyes pop open as the small amount of chakra in her hand suddenly increases dramatically, causing the green aura to grow brighter than usual. Hand still placed on her stomach, Ashley feels the healing process beginning to quicken.

“What the-”

‘I will help you this once’ Hakuba interrupts rudely. ‘I will allow you to borrow some of my chakra to heal yourself, though I am unable to fully repair the damage. I am merely giving you some of my strength for these few seconds. You will have to see a medical specialist afterwards……’

“….Hakuba…..” Ashley says softly, her lips pulling up into a tiny smile, to which Hakuba snorts and rolls his eyes.

‘Don’t thank me’ he warns seriously, sounding somewhat irritated. ‘I am only helping you so I can see you fail. You will not be able to kill that insect or prove anything to me, and I want to see the misery you go through when you realise that you cannot save your friends…..’

‘I’ll save them’ Ashley replies determinedly, slowly sitting up and gritting her teeth with pain. Hakuba falls silent again, having nothing more to say to his blonde host. Though he would never, ever admit to it, he was curious to see what Ashley would be willing to do to save her friends. The little girl he used to know would never have risked her life for anyone. She would have either tried to kill them, or watch on in amusement as they were killed. Surely such a dark little soul could never truly change?

Though Hakuba’s quick surge of chakra had helped her stem the flow of blood, Ashley was still in a lot of pain, if the wince on her face was anything to go by.

‘Give it another couple of minutes’ Ashley thinks, ‘And I think I’ll be able to move again….Now, where’s Kakashi Sensei?’

Glancing around slowly, so as not to hurt herself, Ashley eventually spots her silver haired Sensei a good hundred metres ahead of her, enshrouded by black smoke. He seemed to be holding his own against the remaining Peikirin just fine, though the clone is nowhere insight. Assuming Kakashi had killed it, Ashley narrows her eyes at the silver haired man. It was obvious that he could easily kill Peikirin, but judging by the way he was merely evading her attacks, he was going to heed Ashley’s request and let her live. Killing someone is a lot easier than capturing them alive, and Ashley was grateful that her Sensei was such a reasonable man. Ashley would’ve loved to kill Peikirin herself, but for some reason, she wanted to listen to Lady Tsunade this time.

Though Peikirin and Tozoku had offended practically all of the participating Villages, Ashley didn’t know what would happen if she did kill the two girls. The Stone Village surely wouldn’t be happy that one of their Jonin had been killed, but hopefully they wouldn’t seek revenge on the Grass Village.

Lady Tsunade wouldn’t blame the Grass Village, though she would probably request some sort of severe punishment for Tozoku and Peikirin. And despite Ashley previously having been a rather vengeful person, if she was going to prove herself to Hakuba and earn his trust, she was just going to have to let her hatred of the two girls drop. It would be difficult, but she didn’t really have any other choice.

Ashley is abruptly shaken out of her thoughts, as the Centipede suddenly stumbles past her, almost stomping right on top of Kakashi. Luckily for the silver haired man he had amazing reflexes, able to perform a Jutsu and disappear out of the insect’s path just in time.

Screeching and shrieking with fury, the Centipede’s hundreds of legs stamp across the ground in rapid succession of each other, crushing boulders and snapping trees. The insect’s pointed feet jab deep holes in the earth, shaking it so violently that rocks from the distant mountain begin tumbling down the cliffs.

‘Here’s your chance brat’ Hakuba chuckles darkly, challenging Ashley to make a move. ‘Will you take the opportunity or back out like a coward?’

‘I’m not healed yet!’ Ashley cries in her mind, eyes widening as the Centipede staggers forwards, shooting a fireball up into the air in annoyance.

‘I see’ Hakuba comments, smirking nastily, ‘You’re backing out like a coward. So much for doing anything to save your friends.’

“I-I’m not a coward” Ashley growls through gritted teeth, removing her hand from her stomach and shakily pushing herself to her feet, groaning with the pain and effort. ‘The bleeding has almost completely stopped’ the blonde thinks, raising her right arm, ‘So I guess if I’m going to do anything, now’s my chance!’

Activating her Katsuryoku, Ashley separates the mound of earth she’s standing on from the ground, focusing her mind on raising it up into the smoke filled air.

“Ashley!” Kakashi calls from the ground, eyes widening as he sees the girl floating up into the sky. “Ashley, get back down here! You’re seriously injured! Don’t be stupid!”

‘Sorry Kakashi Sensei’ Ashley apologises internally. ‘But I can’t leave everything to you. I have to do this…..Or die trying.’

Ashley’s eyes widen as she rises up in front of the swaying Centipede, able to see a faint reflection of herself in its black, armour like skin.

‘Wow’ she thinks wryly. ‘I look like shit. No wonder Sensei’s concerned.’

Ashley shakes her head, trying to ignore the intense pain in her mid section as her legs tremble with the effort of holding herself up. She coughs due to the smoke, only to cough up small globs of blood. Baring her teeth in frustration, Ashley spits the blood out at the Centipede, seemingly catching its attention.

“Uh oh…” Ashley squeaks, eyes widening as the Centipede bends its head down to look at her and freezes, a low hissing sound escaping its mouth. Almost making Ashley jump with the sudden movement, the Centipede thunders out an enraged roar, before its body begins writhing, sharp feet slashing at Ashley and trying to knock her from the air.

Waving her arm, Ashley controls the mound of earth she’s on, somehow managing to evade the Centipede’s attacks as sweat drips down the side of her face from the effort.

‘I can’t keep my Katsuryoku up like this for too long’ Ashley thinks tiredly, still seriously injured from Peikirin’s attack. ‘I’ll tire way before this guy does……What do I do? It won’t keep still!’

“Ashley!” a very faint voice calls from the ground, hardly audible to Ashley. She blinks, thinking she’s hearing things, when the voice calls her name again. Glancing down and squinting her eyes, Ashley sees two people down on the ground, one with blue hair and the other clothed in white.

Ashley’s eyes widen, before she sighs with relief. It was Kyoku and Neji.

“Get out of the way!” Ashley hears Kyoku call again, pointing up at the Centipede as Neji begins moving swiftly.

Turning around, Ashley can’t suppress the gasp that escapes her mouth, seeing the Centipede coming right for her with its poisonous pincers wide open. Ashley stares into its black hole like mouth, the gap so large that she finds herself wondering if Naruto’s giant Toad Summon would be able to fit through.

Before the angry Centipede can grab Ashley with its pincers however, it is hit in the side of the face by a powerful blast of chakra, sending its head reeling to the left. A strong whoosh of air almost sucks Ashley off of her platform as the insect’s head flies past her, making the girl focus a large amount of chakra into her feet.

Ashley looks over the edge of her platform at the stunned Centipede, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she contemplates her next move.

‘It’s crazy’ Hakuba informs the girl, to which she nods slowly, eyes still wide.

‘I know’ is the short reply, Ashley’s eyes flicking over to the Centipede’s pincers.

‘It won’t work.’

‘It might.’

‘Don’t do it.’

‘I think I have to.’

‘You’ll be killed.’

‘That’s always a possibility when you’re a Ninja.’

‘Aren’t you afraid?’

‘Psh, no” Ashley snorts, before pausing. ‘Well, maybe a little, but this could save everyone.’

‘…..Do it then’ Hakuba encourages darkly. ‘Before it can grab you with its pincers.’

“……Right…” Ashley mutters, bending her knees and frowning as the Centipede begins raising its head, pincers wide open as it screeches furiously.

Gulping down the fearful lump in her throat, Ashley launches herself forwards, leaping down towards the Centipede’s open mouth.

‘This is so stupid’ Ashley thinks briefly, narrowing her eyes and ignoring the way her heart seems to be pounding in her ears. From the corner of her eyes, Ashley sees the Centipede closing its pincers in on her, the sharp tips dripping with poison.

“Ashley!” the blonde hears her teammates screaming from the ground, as she closes her eyes and disappears down into the blackness of the Centipede’s mouth. As she falls down the insect’s throat, Ashley opens her right eye, a blood red shuriken-like pin wheel in the middle of her black iris.

“What’s she doing?!” Ino shrieks, eyes wide as she watches the ground beneath Ashley separate itself from the earth and rise into the air. “She’s seriously going to try and attack that thing?!”

“What are you doing Angel?....” Kiba asks himself, brows furrowing with worry as he watches the blood covered girl scowl with determination, using her Kekkei Genkai to lift herself higher into the sky.

“Ashley-chan has always been stubborn” Naruto sighs, concern written all over his face. “But surely even she knows that she’s too injured to do anything!”

Sakura’s eyes waver for a moment, seeing Ashley rising up through the smoke right in front of the flailing Centipede. She had no idea what Ashley was planning, but whatever it was, Sakura knew it was going to be stupidly reckless. By the look on Kakashi’s face on one of the lower screens, he was thinking the exact same thing.

Kiba can’t help smirking as Ashley bares her teeth at the Centipede, spitting some blood onto its skin. She would always be spirited like that, even when she was injured and facing such an impossible foe.

Immediately, as if offended by the girl’s actions, the Centipede turns its head down to face her, freezing in place. Naruto feels his stomach drop as Ashley’s eyes widen, before the Centipede lets an outraged roar rip through the air, its venomous pincers snapping open and closed. Its body begins writhing across the ground viciously, crushing anything below it flat and causing trees to topple over.

One of the lower screens flickers to an image of Neji and Kyoku down on the ground, heads tilted back as they stare up at Ashley. Neji’s brows furrow as he grits his teeth, a concerned Kyoku crouched on the ground beside him.

“Do something Neji!” Tenten and Lee shout, with the black haired boy throwing his fist in the air.

As if hearing his two teammates, Neji takes up his usual Gentle Fist Style stance, focusing an incredible amount of chakra into his hands. He’d been throwing these attacks at the Centipede for awhile now, and the loss of chakra was beginning to tire him out, but he wasn’t about to give up and let the Centipede kill Ashley.

Shouting something out, Neji slams his palms up towards the Centipede, sending out a visible wave of chakra, precisely aimed at the side of its head. Neji stumbles backwards a little, closing one eye as he leans against a tree, breathing heavily.

Kiba looks back at the screen with Ashley on it, seeing the surprised look on her face as the Centipede’s head whips to the side, struck dead on by Neji’s attack. She stares down at it for awhile, her face slowly hardening, as if really thinking about something.

Kiba’s eyes widen with realisation as the Centipede begins raising its head, Ashley’s eyes trained on its wide open mouth.

“No…..” Kiba whispers, feeling his eyes beginning to burn. Surely she wouldn’t do something so stupid. “No…”

“She’s not going to…” Naruto trails off, his eyes widening with disbelief as the Centipede screeches in Ashley’s face. The girl’s hair blows out behind her as she bends her knees, scowling determinedly.

“No Angel!” Kiba shouts helplessly, eyes shining with unshed tears. “Don’t do it!”

He watches on in despair as Ashley leaps forwards, jumping straight towards the Centipede’s mouth.

Sakura and Ino gasp with horror, the pinkette slapping her hands over her mouth. A tear slides down her cheek as she sees the Centipede closing its pincers, wanting to catch Ashley.

“Ashley!” Naruto cries, only to see his teammate disappear into the blackness of the Centipede’s throat. Hearing a thump beside him, Naruto glances down, a lump forming in his throat when he sees Kiba down on the ground, having fallen to his knees.

Kiba’s hands ball into fists on the ground, his head hanging as he cries silently, tears sliding down his face even though his eyes are squeezed closed. He grits his teeth, struggling to hold his sobs in, feeling as though his heart has stopped.

“Why Angel?” he asks softly, almost inaudible. “Why would you make such a sacrifice?.....Why?”

“Mm mmm….” Akamaru whimpers, sitting beside Kiba and rubbing his cheek against the despairing boy’s shoulder.

“I…..I can’t….Believe it” Ino stutters, staring at the screeching Centipede through wide, incredulous eyes. “She actually…..She actually…..”

Naruto’s body begins trembling as he too tries to hold his sobs in, eyes shining brightly. The blonde male stares at the screen, catching the look of absolute horror that crosses Kakashi’s face as he sees his student leap into the Centipede’s mouth. Neji and Kyoku also freeze, their eyes wide and filled with disbelief at Ashley’s actions.

“She can’t be gone” Kiba murmurs sorrowfully, now hiding his face with his hands. “She…She just can’t be! What am I supposed to do now Angel? How am I meant to go on if you’re dead?!”

“Kiba-kun…” Hinata begins, though she trails off, seeing the way Kiba’s shoulders are shaking. She instead kneels down beside him and places a hand on his shoulder, looking to the others for help.

Everyone remains silent however, merely looking down at Kiba through teary eyes and exchanging looks of helplessness. How were they supposed to console Kiba when the girl he loved had just been killed? What words would ever ease the pain he was obviously going through?

Sakura closes her eyes and crosses her arms as if hugging herself, tears streaming down her face as Naruto stands behind her, hands balled into fists. His arms tremble as he stares at the ground, blue eyes bright with tears. It just didn’t seem possible that Ashley could be gone….And so suddenly too…..

A tearful Ino turns to Choji, who in turn shrugs and puts his arm across her shoulder, hugging the girl to his side. He didn’t know what to say, but sometimes he knew that girls just wanted someone to comfort them, though a hug would hardly make anyone feel better in a situation like this.

Lee also places an arm over Tenten’s shoulders, as they exchange a miserable look, before glancing down at the silently sobbing Kiba. Who was going to inform Lady Tsunade of this horrible event?...

“Hey……” Sai begins slowly, frowning up at the screen. “What is that thing doing now?”

A few of the Leaf Ninja glance up to see what Sai is on about, pulling faces as the Centipede launches itself down towards Kyoku and Neji. It suddenly pauses however, its head turning in different directions, as if confused about something.

Taking the opportunity to escape, Neji and Kyoku race across the destroyed forest floor, with the Hyuga leading the way. His Byakugan activated, Neji is able to find Kakashi, with Kyoku giving the man a hug as soon as she reaches him. She’d clearly been worried about his wellbeing, but he seemed a little in shock as well, having just witnessed his former student jump to her death.

The Centipede suddenly begins emitting high pitched screeches, its head swaying from side to side as its long body begins writhing again. It stumbles around wildly, seemingly in some sort of distress as it shrieks and hisses irritably.

More of the Leaf Ninja look up, frowning in confusion at the Centipede’s sudden strange movements. What was going on?

Suddenly, the Centipede throws its head back, a large ball of black flames blasting out of its gaping mouth and up into the sky.

“What the hell?!” Naruto cries, eyes widening once again. “What’s going on with that psycho thing?!
As soon as the words leave Naruto’s mouth, a line around the Centipede’s neck abruptly bursts into flames, causing it to screech in agony again. Everyone stares at the peculiar black flames curiously, wondering what could be happening to the Centipede.

Without warning, the Centipede’s head suddenly explodes from its body with a resounding boom, causing everyone watching to jump with fright. The insect’s severed neck and head fly through the air, black flames still burning, before it crashes to the earth, shaking it violently and sending up a large cloud of dust.

“What….just happened?” Tenten asks, blinking her brown eyes a few times, before shaking her head. “Why did it just…..explode like that?”

Before anyone can reply however, the two halves of the now dead Centipede disappear in large clouds of smoke, leaving the crowd of watching Leaf Ninja and Villagers silent.

As the smoke from the Centipede begins to clear, a small figure falls down from the sky, having been trapped inside the Centipede’s body. The girl drops swiftly towards the ground, her eyes closed and blood seeping from the wound in her mid section.

“No way…..” Naruto breathes, staring at the screen without blinking. “No wayyyyy…”

Sakura blinks her disbelieving eyes a few times, watching the falling figure closely, her heart beginning to pound with relief and excitement. Like Naruto said, there was no way…….How could this be?

Seeing the falling girl, Kakashi immediately dashes forwards, head tilted back as he watches her. Skidding to a halt, Kakashi throws out his arms and manages to catch the wounded girl, gazing down at her still figure through wide eyes.

Everyone watching from the Leaf Village holds their breath, waiting to see if the girl is okay. She’d just been swallowed by a monstrous Centipede and was inside the creature when it exploded, not to mention she’d just been run through by Peikirin’s sword. She couldn’t possibly be alive……

Blood drips down from the girl’s visible eye, leaving a trail of red all the way down her face. Kakashi seems to say something to her, when her eye suddenly flickers open, looking a little blood shot.

She replies to whatever Kakashi had said to her, before smiling tiredly at him, to which the silver haired man heaves a sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping.

As soon as Ashley’s eyes open, a victorious cheer goes up through the large crowd of Leaf Villagers and Ninja, with some of them even throwing their hats in the air.

“Aww yeeaaahh!” Naruto shouts excitedly, jumping around and repeatedly pumping his fists in the air. “She did it! She did it!”

“That’s my teammate!” Sakura screams happily, throwing her arms up as new tears streaming down her face, though this time they’re from sheer relief.

“Whoooooo!” Tenten and Ino cry, hugging each other and skipping in a circle, as Choji rubs the back of his head and grins.

“How does she do it?” he wonders, when Hinata taps Kiba on the shoulder, trying to catch his attention.

“Look at the s-screen Kiba-kun” she encourages softly, to which the broken hearted male raises his head, his eyes red.

“Why?” he asks hoarsely, begrudgingly glancing up. “Just so I can see-”

Kiba cuts himself off however, eyes widening at the sight of the smiling blonde girl on the screen. He hears his heart begin beating loudly in his ears and pounding against his chest, the ice in his veins beginning to melt.

“What….But she…..” Kiba stammers, allowing Hinata and Akamaru to help him to his feet. “How did……What’s going on?!”

“Ashley killed the Centipede!” Sakura informs the shocked Inuzuka cheerfully, green eyes sparkling. “She actually defeated it!”

Kiba runs a hand through his hair as Hinata giggles delightedly, Akamaru barking happily beside him and wagging his tail.

“This is wonderful!” Lee explodes with excitement, eyes shining in a comical fashion. “The Power of Youth is not so easily defeated!”

Kiba watches as Kyoku and Neji run over to Kakashi, with the blue haired woman throwing her arms around Ashley in an affectionate hug. Ashley sweat drops at the woman’s action, but gives her a closed eye smile and says something to her, probably trying to assure the woman that she’s alright.

Seeing the smile on her face, Kiba can’t help the tiny smile of relief on his. He feels his eyes welling up again, but not because he’s sad anymore. The young Inuzuka had never felt so reassured in his entire life.

His Angel was obviously still quite badly injured, but she was alive, and that was the best news Kiba had ever received. He couldn’t wait for her to come back home, where she would be safe with him. He was going to give her the biggest hug she’d ever had as soon as she returned!

Kiba suddenly shakes his head, letting out a short laugh as he begins clapping, joining in with the applauding crowd.

“I don’t know how you do it Angel” he mutters to himself, lop sided grin in place. “But you’re a fighter alright.”

I was gonna stop at the part where Ashley jumped into the Centipede's mouth, but I decided to try and NOT do a cliffhanger for once haha xD Hope you enjoyed!