Thank you to everyone who signed the petition against the SOPA Law to delete all works of fanfiction, fan art etc through all genres! Your support was really helpful and SUPER appreciated! <3

Pic of Ashley  --->

Third Person’s POV

Ace watches Ashley carefully from the corner of his eye as he slowly trudges along beside her, with the blonde girl’s face tilted down towards the earth. Though she had her mask on, Ace knew his partner better than anyone else, and he could practically feel a nervous aura radiating from her. Her steps seemed heavier than the usual light footed gait she maintained, and though only a minute change, Ace could sense that Ashley’s pace had slowed.

Ace lays his ears back and steps a little closer to Ashley, their shoulders almost touching. The girl doesn’t even respond to his closer proximity, her steely gaze fixed down on the ground.

The Wolf can’t help sighing quietly, ears flicking back. Though seemingly nervous, wheels were clearly turning in Ashley’s head. Ace didn’t know why, or what she was thinking so hard about, but he had the feeling that if Kisame stopped walking a few metres ahead of them, Ashley would be concentrating so hard on her own thoughts that she’d walk right into the man’s back.

Flicking his pale green eye up to glance at Kisame and Itachi, about ten or so metres ahead of him, Ace is somewhat relieved to see that the Mist Ninja seems to be having a quiet, one sided conversation with his Uchiha partner. Considering their incredibly high level of abilities, Ace didn’t doubt for a second that they were both still keeping tabs on him and Ashley, but at least they weren’t fixating on her for the moment.

“Mikä onasiaminunnainen?” the navy Wolf asks in a deep voice, so low, it is almost inaudible. (What is wrong Milady?)

Ashley remains silent at this question, slowly marching along and staring at the ground as if Ace hadn’t even spoken.

Feeling a slight movement ahead, thanks to his activated Katsuryoku, Ace raises his head a little and focuses his eye on Kisame and Itachi. Having heard Ace speak in a strange language, Kisame had fallen silent, with the man’s eyes moving to the side to keep a subtle eye on the two trailing behind him.

Ashley’s Guardian narrows his eye slightly at Kisame as he turns his head back to face forwards, though Ace can tell that the blue skinned man is now listening  intently.

He clearly wasn’t a stupid man. He’d heard Ace communicate in a way he couldn’t understand, and the Mist Ninja was obviously now suspicious. And he well should be suspicious, for all he knew, Ace and Ashley were hatching some kind of plan to try and attack.

“Rouva, kerro minulle, mikä onvialla....” Ace asks again, lowering his head down and gently nudging Ashley’s shoulder. “Sinunhiljaisuusonminusta huolestuttavaa.”    (Milady, please tell me what is wrong…. Your silence is causing me concern)

Hearing this, Itachi turns his head and glances back, causing Ace to look up again. Seeing that the Uchiha is looking between him and Ashley carefully, Ace’s hackles go up and he bares his teeth in a vicious growl.

“Mind your business traitor” the Wolf warns fearlessly, causing Itachi’s eyes to narrow the slightest amount. “My words have nought to do with the like of you.”

Itachi stares at Ace for a moment longer, before turning back around, still the picture of cool as Kisame chuckles with amusement, hoisting his Samehada up on his shoulder a little.

“Looks like the girl’s puppy has a bit of a mouth as well” the former Mist Ninja muses, raising an eyebrow and looking down at Itachi. “Perhaps his tongue should be slashed out?”

Ace’s nose wrinkles as his growl grows more threatening, when Ashley suddenly raises her hand and gently places it on Ace’s back, silencing him instantly. The Wolf lifts his head and immediately turns it to Ashley, only to see that she is still staring down at the ground, though her fingers have now curled into Ace’s fur, pulling on it a little.

“Milady?” Ace asks softly, brows knitting together with concern as Ashley slowly raises her head, eyes fixed on the road ahead.

“Voin aistianiitä....” the Minami whispers in a hoarse voice, barely any sound leaving her mouth. (I can sense them....)

“I can’t believe we came all this way just for those” Kiba mutters, casting the papers in Shikamaru’s hand a disapproving look. “I’ve got better things to be doing with my time! Like training, or planning how to save Ashley, or-”

“We get it Kiba” Shikamaru interrupts with a sigh, shaking his head as he tucks the papers into a pocket on his flak jacket, “You want to rescue your missing girlfriend and punch things, but don’t you see? Lady Tsunade especially sent you on this mission with us to distract you and keep your mind occupied with other things, so you don’t go crazy. You should be thanking her, not complaining like an immature Genin punk.”

Kiba has to bite his lip at this comment, as Lee casts the Inuzuka a conflicted look. While it wasn’t true that Ashley was missing or had been kidnapped by the Akatsuki, Shikamaru and Neji both had no idea that she’d actually left to join the evil organisation. Lee was having a hard time keeping it a secret from his Hyuga teammate too, as he preferred to be honest with all of his friends, but Lady Tsunade had ordered that it remain an unknown fact….

“Well, we’ve got the papers now” Neji speaks up flatly, crossing his arms and opening his closed eyes. “We should probably start heading back to the Village now. If we keep up a good pace, we should be able to get home by midnight.”

“Yes!” Lee cries, fired up all of the sudden. He jumps in front of Neji and throws up a fist, the fire burning in his eyes causing the Hyuga to lean backwards and sweat drop, not wanting to make eye contact with Lee.

“If we harness the power of youth” Lee continues shouting, broad grin plastered across his face, “We shall reach the Leaf Village by nightfall! Or perhaps even earlier!”

“Calm down Bowl Cut” Kiba sighs, placing his hands on his hips and tilting his head to the side. “We ran basically the whole way here, and Neji’s gotta rest his eyes for awhile. This mission sucks, but I reckon we need a short break before we head back.”

“Ruff….” Akamaru barks his agreement wearily, sitting down beside Kiba and hanging his head, panting softly. Kiba reaches down and scratches the large Ninken behind his ear, to which his tail begins to wag tiredly.

“Alright guys” Shikamaru says dully, eyes hooded as he leans his back against a tree and shoves his hands in his pockets, “We’ll take ten, and then we’ll start heading back. Lady Tsunade really wants these documents back as soon as possible.”

“But, but…..” Lee stutters, looking disappointed as his shoulder droop, “The Sand Ninja have already left us to return home. We must display the same vigour!”

“Pipe down Lee” Kiba advises breezily, waving his hand uncaringly as he flops down on his back next to Akamaru, “We aren’t Sand Ninja, and besides, we’ve got further to travel til we get home. We deserve a break.”

“How could such lazy words escape the mouth of a Chunin?” Neji wonders, smirking to himself when Kiba grows an anime vein and raises his head to glare at the cocky Hyuga.

“It must be difficult to keep words inside such a big mouth” Shikamaru suggests, before tilting his head down and chuckling quietly to himself as Kiba raises his middle finger.

Lee, clearly having energy in abundance, folds one arm behind his back and drops down to the ground, counting softly as he begins doing one fingered push ups. The muscles in his arm flex as he pushes up and lowers himself back down, making the difficult feat look as easy and natural as blinking.

Kiba hoods his eyes and twists his mouth to the side, staring up at the clouds as they float by. Most of them are hidden from view, due to the span of the leafy branches high above him.

Despite the Inuzuka trying his best to act normal, it didn’t feel right. He felt as if someone had climbed into his skin and was just controlling his movements and the things he said. Though he felt a little weak admitting it, Kiba just wasn’t the same without Ashley around. He was used to having the short, blonde firecracker with him all the time and now that she had defected, so she claimed, Kiba wasn’t really sure how to go about things anymore.

He had felt differently when Ashley had left for the Land of Ambience a few years ago. Kiba had definitely been sad when she’d left, but he had only been thirteen, and what thirteen year old truly understood what love was? At least back then, Kiba knew Ashley was coming back. This time though…..Well, Kiba wasn’t going to accept that Ashley wouldn’t be coming back, but there was always the possibility that she wouldn’t…..

Kiba shakes his head vigorously at this thought and scowls determinedly. He had to remain positive, even though his heart felt heavy. Negative thoughts would only bring him down and break his resolve to get his girlfriend back home!

Shikamaru slowly opens his eyes, inhaling a deep breath of fresh air through his nose and tilting his head back to look up. His brows furrow the slightest amount as he watches the leaves waving gently in the breeze. If the Nara wasn’t mistaken, he was sure he’d felt the wind change direction all of the sudden.

Raising a hand to tuck a loose strand of chocolate hair behind his ear, Neji opens his eyes a little and glances up, his mouth set in a firm line. He catches Shikamaru’s eye as the Nara glances over at him, before shrugging a shoulder and reclosing his eyes. He’d been using his Byakugan ever since they’d left the Leaf Village, and now his eyes were feeling a little strained. They needed a rest.

“One hundred and fifty seven…..One hundred and fifty six…..” Lee counts out loud, barely breaking a sweat as he continues with his swift one handed push ups. The boy usually got to five hundred before he started really sweating, and even then he tried to keep going.

“Did you guys feel that?” Shikamaru eventually asks, looking at his comrades over his shoulder. Without moving his head, Kiba cracks one eye open and peeks at Shikamaru, arms still folded comfortably under his head.

“Feel what?” the Inuzuka asks loudly, causing Shikamaru to sigh. Clearly Kiba was too relaxed to notice anything….

“The wind” Shikamaru states pointedly, “It changed direction all the sudden.”

“……Did it?” Kiba replies, popping his other eye open and sitting up, though he leans back on his hands. “Ah well, even if it did, who cares?”

Shikamaru turns around to face the brunette, a flat expression on his face. Lee pauses in doing his push ups and sits on his knees, giving the Nara a questioning look.

“The Land of Wind is directly North from where we are now” Shikamaru explains with a sigh. “The Desert winds always blow towards us when we travel to the Sand Village, but now the wind is coming from the South, like its blowing from the Leaf Village. That never happens here.”

Kiba’s eyes widen a slight amount, intrigued by this piece of information. He tilts his head back and looks around, sniffing the air curiously.

“I can’t smell anything strange” he eventually concludes, shrugging his shoulders. “Maybe the wind does blow from the South sometimes and we’ve just never noticed?”

“No” Neji speaks up, opening his pale eyes again, “Shikamaru is right. The wind should be blowing against our backs if we’re travelling back to the Leaf Village, not in our faces……It never changes direction in this area.”

“Surely there is nothing wrong here” Lee suggests, glancing between his friends in turn, “And we are just making this seem like a big deal when it is not?”

“Nah, I reckon Shikamaru might be right” Kiba decides, brows furrowing as he pushes himself to his feet, one hand on a now alert Akamaru’s head. “I can’t smell anything but…….Neji, can you use your Byakugan to check out the area?”

“Of course” the Hyuga replies, almost sounding indignant. While his eyes were a little tired, Neji was more than capable of continuing to use his Byakugan. He didn’t need Kiba to ask.

“Byakugan” Neji says lowly, activating his ocular Kekkei Genkai. Pronounced veins now visible around his eyes, Neji narrows them and glances around, quickly spotting a figure racing through the trees towards them from the North.

“No way!” Neji can’t help exclaiming, recognising the incoming person immediately. “What’s she doing here?”

“Huh?” Shikamaru asks, slightly bewildered by the uncharacteristically surprised look on Neji’s face. “Who’s here?”

Before Neji can reply, the person running towards them throws her arms forwards, sending out a powerful blast of wind. None of the Leaf Ninja have time to react, before they are slammed with an intense wind that blows them off their feet and sends them tumbling through the air.

Shikamaru exhales sharply, crashing stomach first into a sturdy branch, and claws at the bark to hold himself up. The Nara has to turn his head and close his eyes, the powerful wind to painful to look into.

Kiba and Akamaru are sent sprawling high up into the trees, with the brunette swiftly managing to flip himself around the right way. Akamaru spins through the air to manoeuvre himself below Kiba’s now falling form, catching the boy on his back and landing in a crouched position back on the ground. He hits it with a heavy thud as Kiba scowls into the wind, though he quickly has to turn his head away, the wind causing his eyes to water.

Neji flips himself upside down in the air and catches onto a branch, pulling himself down to duck behind the tree trunk and shield himself from the wind. Looking directly ahead, the Hyuga sees a dizzy eyed Lee lying spread eagle across a thick, bush-like collection of leaves attached to the tree across from him.

“What the hell’s going on?!” Kiba shouts over the wind, only to raise his head as Akamaru begins to growl. “Huh? Akamaru?”

As the strong rush of wind begins to die down, Kiba turns around, only to find a small figure with long, blonde hair looming right in front of him. His eyes widen at the sight of her cloak and masked face. Things seem to move in slow motion for Kiba as he gasps the newcomer’s name, with the girl’s sharp eyes glittering dangerously through the small holes in her mask.

As Kiba brings up his hands, the girl leaps up and throws out a hand, jabbing him viciously in the right shoulder. With a loud grunt of pain, Kiba is shot backwards from the force of the girl’s hit, almost seeming to disappear from Akamaru’s back in a mere second.

“Ruff!” the large Ninken barks with concern, looking back over his shoulder as Kiba’s back collides with a tree trunk with a painful crunch sound. The brunette cracks one eye open, watching the cloaked figure, as he slides to his knees and grips his newly injured shoulder tightly. At least she hadn’t hit his left shoulder, which had broken during his Three Tailed Beast mission…

“A-Akamaru!” the Inuzuka warns, eyes widening with horror as the cloaked figures drops to the ground and swings out a leg. He leans against the tree and slowly climbs to his feet, as the girl spins around, sweeping Akamaru’s paws out from under him.

As the Ninken trips to the ground, the girl flips up to her feet and lashes out, gripping one of Akamaru’s paws in her hands. She then spins around once more and hefts the white Canine over her shoulder, growling with the effort of lifting the heavy animal.

Akamaru yelps as his back collides with Kiba’s chest, with the Dog upside down, before the two of them crash into the same tree Kiba had just pushed himself away from.

Not sparing the two another glance, the masked girl straightens up and tilts her head back, looking directly at Shikamaru, who is still dangling from the high tree branch he’d slammed into moments earlier. He watches Kiba and Akamaru from the corner of his eye, concerned for his teammates’ safety. The girl had ploughed through them so fast, they hadn’t had time to react. Judging by her black cloak though, she was a member of the Akatsuki, and she wasn’t going to be messing around with them.

The Nara’s eyes widen a little, when he sees the girl then focus her attention on him, causing him to turn around and focus on pulling himself up. He wasn’t going to be much help if he was just hanging around like this.

Seeing Shikamaru pull himself up onto the tree branch and reach into his weapons pouch, the girl darts forwards and performs a hand sign.

“Those clouds on her cloak…..” Shikamaru murmurs to himself, pulling out two handfuls of kunai and brandishing them, “Why are the Akatsuki here?.....And where’s her partner?”

Sighing and gritting his teeth together, Shikamaru flings the kunai down, one handful after the other.

“Fire Style” the girl on the ground snaps, one hand tilting up the lower half of her mask, “Phoenix Flower Jutsu!”

Quickly blowing out a skilfully aimed barrage of small fireballs, each and every one of Shikamaru’s kunai knives are intercepted by the girl’s Jutsu. There is a serious of loud blasts, as the sneakily placed explosive tags on the knives detonate, blowing out huge clouds of smoke and smouldering splinters of bark.

The girl doesn’t pause in her running however, merely slashing her arms to the side, causing two blasts of wind to separate the clouds of smoke and allow her to see. Sensing that Shikamaru is on the move, the girl veers to the left, only to skid to a halt. Standing a top a tree branch before her, the blonde sees Neji with his hands together and eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Eight Trigrams” the chocolate haired man shouts, “Air Palm!”

Immediately, Neji forcefully thrusts one arm forwards, palm facing the girl below. A powerful vacuum wave of chakra enhanced air rockets away from Neji’s hand, coursing down towards the girl at an impressive speed.

Performing her own hand signs, the girl in the Akatsuki cloak crouches down.

“Fang Over Fang!” she cries, leaping up into the air, before she begins to spin vigorously through the air, like a miniature tornado.

The swiftness of the girl’s Jutsu allows her to evade Neji’s attack just in time, as it crashes into a tree trunk and snaps it right in half. She continues to drill through the air towards Neji, and as she is about to collide with him, the Hyuga back flips down from the branch. He lands on the ground on one knee, as the blonde girl shears through the tree branch Neji had just been standing on, pieces of bark raining down around him.

Coming out of her spin, the masked girl begins bounding through the trees, still focused on reaching Shikamaru. As she leaps between two branches, she spies Lee standing on one down below her, a look of sadness in his eyes.

“Ashley!” the green clad Chunin calls, hands cupping around his mouth. “Please, we do not wish for any trouble! Do not cause any harm to my teammates and your friends!”

Rolling her eyes, Ashley ignores Lee and continues on her way, Shikamaru now back in her sights. She wasn’t about to lose him, because she could see that he was the one hanging onto the papers she’d been sent out to steal. She needed those papers if she had any chance of joining with the Akatsuki….

Neji raises his head and scowls at Ashley’s disappearing back, mind spinning. Why was she wearing an Akatsuki cloak? Why was she attacking her friends? He thought she’d gone missing during a mission!

“Kiba!” Neji calls, looking over to the troubled looking Inuzuka, who is squatting beside Akamaru and staring at the ground through hooded eyes. “What’s going on here? Why is Ashley wearing that?”

Kiba blinks at this, before raising his head and running a hand through his hair. His brows furrow as he focuses on Neji, unsure of really how to explain the situation. Was it okay if he told Neji, now that he’d seen Ashley for himself? Although, last time he’d seen her, Ashley hadn’t been wearing the cloak with the red clouds…..Did that mean that she’d managed to join their ranks?

“I….I guess she’s wearing that because she actually joined the Akatsuki” Kiba chuckles humourlessly, placing a hand to his forehead and closing his eyes. “I didn’t think she would but…..I still don’t understand this….”

“But why did she join them?” Neji asks harshly, looking forwards again as Lee takes off after Ashley and Shikamaru. “She may have been cold hearted and outright rude at times, but I never thought she’d abandon the Village.”

“Heh, neither did I” Kiba replies, still smiling unhappily at the ground. He didn’t want to deal with this again right now. While he absolutely wanted to bring Ashley back to the Village, it didn’t seem like she was in any mood for cooperating, or even listening to his reasoning. That punch she’d thrown at him was a powerful one, and Ashley had never attacked him like that before. The look in her eyes too…..He’d seen it before, but never had it been directed at him…..Her Sharingan was activated, and while it was a slightly scary sight to see in this situation, it was clear that Ashley was focused and had it activated for a reason….

“Why is she so focused on Shikamaru?” Neji suddenly asks, able to see Ashley launching an attack at the Nara thanks to his Byakugan. “She bypassed you and I without much effort, and she completely ignored Lee…..But now she’s trying to engage Shikamaru in a fight. What’s she doing?”

Kiba shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head, as Akamaru whines softly, before the brunette’s eyes suddenly widen with realisation. His head jerks up, turning around to look off into the trees.

“The papers!” Kiba exclaims decisively. “It’s gotta be! Shikamaru’s them one carrying them!”

“But why would the Akatsuki, let alone Ashley, be after those?” Neji asks as Kiba rises to his feet. “How would they even know we’ve got them?”

“I dunno how they find out about stuff, do I Neji?” Kiba retorts in a frustrated tone, throwing a hand up in the air. “It’s just a hunch, but I reckon I’m right.”

Neji hoods his eyes and gives Kiba a look that is a cross between thoughtfulness and annoyance, before he also shrugs his shoulders and crouches down.

“Well, whatever her reason” the Hyuga says, “We’d best go and help our teammates out…..Before hers shows up.”

“A-Ashley?” Shikamaru gasps, though it comes out as no more than a whisper. “No way, it can’t be……”

The shocked Nara rises from his kneeling position and slowly walks forwards, causing a saddened Lee to reluctantly move out of his way. The dark haired boy had stepped into the middle of the clearing, to cast a shadow on the ground and give Shikamaru even more to use for his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

The Nara had been crouched under a tree, while his target had perched up in a tree on the opposite side of the large, sunlit clearing. Lee had asked Shikamaru to try and not hurt the girl chasing him, revealing that it was their long time friend, Ashley.

Caught by Shikamaru’s hard to escape Jutsu, Ashley has no choice but to reciprocate his movements and drop down from the tree she’d landed in. She robotically stalks across the ground toward her captor, growling furiously behind her mask. She’d never been caught by a Paralysis Jutsu before, and she certainly didn’t like not being in control of her own body. It was almost impossible to fight though, seeing as it felt like her limbs were being pulled and pushed around by hundreds of wires, like she was a mere puppet.

The girl stops in front of Shikamaru, arm automatically raising up as the Nara slowly reaches out towards Ashley’s face. A bead of sweat drips down the side of Shikamaru’s face, as the Chunin lifts Ashley’s mask, needing to see for himself that Lee is correct.

From her fighting style and long, blonde hair, Shikamaru had already suspected that this girl was Ashley, but found that it was too unlikely to be true. How could it have been Ashley, when she’d gone missing during a mission? It seemed impossible to believe that she would’ve gone off to join the Akatsuki, and would now not only attack her friends, but Kiba as well….

Lifting the blonde’s mask to the top of her head, Shikamaru has to suppress a gasp, immediately recognising Ashley’s pretty face. She glares back at him with blazing Sharingan eyes, teeth bared in a nasty growl, unhappy that he’d removed her mask.

Shikamaru is unable to stop himself from stumbling backwards a few steps, making an annoyed Ashley do the same, his heart beating heavily against his ribcage and pounding in his ears.

He continues staring at Ashley with wide, wavering eyes, not wanting to believe that the blonde before him is wearing the ominous black cloak with red clouds. While he had been trying to move on from his feelings for the girl, it was still a big slap in the face to see her like this. How could she have made such a drastic decision like this? What had made her make this choice in the first place? She was strong, well liked at home and respected by most of the other Ninja that Shikamaru could think of. She was one of Tsunade’s favourites, though the woman would never actually admit it out loud, and Kakashi constantly bragged about her to the other Sensei’s, as well as his other two students.

“…..Why?” Shikamaru eventually asks in a hoarse whisper, shaking his head at the slowly darkening look on Ashley’s face. “Why would you……”

“I-It’s none of your business” Ashley spits, struggling to speak due to the restrictive nature of Shikamaru’s Jutsu. “…..Now l-let me go!”

“Ashley……” Lee addresses softly, standing beside the clearly dismayed Shikamaru, who has now placed a hand to his head. “Please, do not continue down this path. Can you not see that you are hurting the very people that care about you? Naruto and Sakura have already experienced too much pain by Sasuke leaving…..Please do not increase their pain anymore…..”

“Y-You don’t know anything” Ashley growls nastily, glancing out of the corner of her eye as she feels Kiba, Akamaru and Neji arrive in the clearing. “I don’t have to explain m-myself to any of you! I c-can do whatever I want!”

“You obviously don’t care about the pain you’re inflicting on all of your friends” Neji comments, one hand on his hip as he pauses on Ashley’s right, eyebrow raised.

“Damn right I don’t” Ashley confirms lowly, hooding her ebony coloured eyes. “Your pain m-means nothing to me, and I can’t say i-it ever did.”

“Oh don’t worry” Neji smirks, “I’m not in pain. Slightly surprised, but not in any pain. Other people though, well, I can’t speak for them….”

Here Neji gestures to Kiba, who is staring at Ashley though hooded eyes, though they shine with an emotion that the blonde can’t place. Heaving a sigh, the Inuzuka opens his mouth to speak, only for Ashley to cut him off.

“Don’t think th-that your words will mean more to me than a-anyone else’s” she snaps nastily. “Your pain is just as worthless to me as all of theirs!”

Kiba stares at Ashley in disbelief, though he just bites his lip and looks away, shaking his head. Lee watches Kiba with some distress, somehow able to feel the despair emanating from the brunette. The Taijutsu expert knew that Kiba was one of the roughest Ninja he’d basically grown up with, and it was a very rare thing for that vulnerable expression to be present on his face.

Stepping forwards, Lee reaches out and grips onto Ashley’s shoulders tightly, leaning down towards her. The girl’s eyes widen slightly, before she glares up at Lee’s imploring face, nose wrinkling as pulls her lips back further to bare her teeth at the boy threateningly.

“Please listen to me Ashley!” Lee commands politely. “You must stop hurting your friends like this! Your words can cut deeper than any kunai and I believe that at least Kiba’s distress must cause you some dismay! I do not understand why you are doing this, but to cause him such grief is unforgivable! We do not wish to fight you Ashley, but you are making it very difficult to take any other avenue…..Please, do not continue this façade any further. You are our friend, and we have all won many battles together. We have overcome many obstacles, and to stand before each other as enemies is the most painful of things! We are comrades and friends, so let us return to the Village together to right this awful wrong!”

Ashley blinks as Lee gives her a wide closed eye smile. Shikamaru remains silent, still unsure of what to say to Ashley. He merely stares at her as she continues looking up at Lee, eyes unblinking.

Neji crosses his arms and nods his head slightly, silently praising Lee for his short speech. He was right. While it didn’t particularly hurt Neji if Ashley defected, he had certainly come out of a few unpleasant situations alongside her, and the Hyuga wasn’t particularly keen on having her as anything but a comrade.

Kiba glances back at Ashley and Lee from the corner of his eye, not entirely sure that Lee’s spiel would really change anything. The Inuzuka knew Ashley better than anyone, and he knew how stubborn she could be. Although, he’d thought he knew her before, and she’d completely surprised him by leaving to join the Akatsuki. Hopefully she would surprise him again right now…..

“Well” Lee says softly, reopening his eyes to look down at Ashley, “What do you say Ashley?”

The Minami continues to stare up at Lee through unblinking eyes, when the tomoe in her eyes suddenly begin to spin, causing Kiba to throw out an arm.

“Lee!” the Inuzuka shouts urgently, as Neji takes up a defensive stance, not liking Kiba’s tone. “Get away from her, now!”

“Huh?” Lee asks, eyebrows raising as he flicks his eyes up to Kiba, before looking back at Ashley. His eyes widen slightly when he sees the treacherous grin on her face, bright red, shuriken-like symbols now present in each of her eyes. They begin to spin as well, and before Lee has so much as a chance to react, his eyes close and he collapses heavily to the ground.

“Lee!” Neji calls out, raising his eyes from the boy to scowl at the still grinning Ashley. “What did you do?!”

“She cast a Genjutsu on him” Kiba replies in Ashley’s stead, brows furrowed as he too stares at the Minami, though Akamaru is now standing protectively in front of him. “That was her Tsukuyomi too, so that’ll be a high powered Genjutsu…..”

“Lee won’t be able to get out of that easily then” Neji growls, hands balling into fists. “He’s not very skilled in negating Genjutsu…..”

“What are you doing Ashley?!” Shikamaru suddenly shouts, catching the girl’s attention. “You know Lee won’t be able to get out of there, yet you cast a Genjutsu on him anyway?! You shouldn’t be-”

“Don’t look her in the eyes Shikamaru!” Kiba warns, causing the Nara to immediately drop his eyes to the ground. “She’ll catch you otherwise!”

“You’re reaching your limit….Shikamaru” Ashley suddenly states ominously, making the Nara pause. The Minami girl had known him for quite a few years now, and they’d worked together a lot in the past, so she knew exactly how long he could sustain this chakra draining Jutsu for. And she was right too. He was about to reach his limit….

“Get back Shikamaru” Neji orders, glaring at Ashley as he walks forwards and hoists Lee up over his shoulder. “You’re tiring, so Kiba and I will take care of her.”

“What?” Kiba asks incredulously, earning a pointed look from the tall Hyuga. Though this was clearly an order, Kiba didn’t want to fight against his girlfriend…..Especially when she obviously wasn’t going to be holding back. While he could keep up with her impressive speed for awhile, he didn’t really have any way to block any of her long range Jutsu. And he certainly didn’t know how to counter her Sharingan….

Beginning to pant a little, Shikamaru begins walking backwards, creating distance between himself and Ashley as she too starts walking backwards. The Nara’s breath catches in his throat however, when he sees the dark look in Ashley’s eyes, which have begun to spin again.

“You’ve got something I want” she states icily, “So you’re not going anywhere.”

The blonde then closes her left eye, and in a mere second, a mass of black flames shoot out of the air towards Shikamaru, causing him to accidentally drop his Jutsu and run away. The stream of flames are too fast for the Chunin however, arcing across his path and making him skid to a halt.

As Shikamaru spins on his heel to change course, he sees the black flames spread around him in a circle. Now trapped in, Shikamaru tilts his head back, only for his eyes to widen when he sees just how high the fire is burning. He wouldn’t have a chance of jumping over them without sustaining some serious damage….

“What a drag…..” Shikamaru sighs raggedly, gritting his teeth. “I’m stuck. Sorry guys….”

“Shikamaru!” Kiba calls, only to ball his hands into fists and glare over at Ashley, who is now stretching her arms above her head. “Are you seriously trying to kill him or something?!”

Ashley pauses with her arms still above her head and tilts her head to the side, eyes half lidded. She drops her arms and places her hands on her hips.

“Not yet” is all the girl says, before an amused smirk crosses her face. “Do you have the guts to try and stop me Kiba?”

The Inuzuka freezes for a moment, not having heard Ashley say his name for quite some time now. A faint shiver travels up his spine, the male slightly unnerved by the venomous challenge in her tone.

“I guess I have no choice…..” Kiba sighs, shoulders slumping with reluctance.

“This should be fun” Ashley replies smartly, narrowing her eyes and rolling one shoulder, “Assuming you’re actually going to try of course. If you don’t, then you’re dead.”

Kiba gives his girlfriend a troubled look, disturbed by the sick amusement sparkling in her black eyes. He’d never truly seen this side of her before, and he couldn’t say that he liked it, especially considering it was all being aimed at him and his friends.

“Wind Style” Ashley suddenly cries, performing rapid hand signs, “Divine Wind!”

“Uh oh….” Kiba mutters, sweat dripping down the side of his face as Ashley raises her hands, creating three large tornadoes right in front of him. He’d seen this attack from Ashley before, and he knew what was coming next too.

“She’s going for destructive power from a distance Neji!” Kiba calls out as Akamaru scoops the boy up onto his back. “One of us is gonna have to attack her at close quarters…..”

“I’m the only one of us that can repel her attacks from a distance” Neji replies, placing the unconscious Lee down on a high tree branch. “I’ll leave the close combat up to you.”

“Why me?!” Kiba shouts with annoyance, raising a fist at the Hyuga as Ashley’s tornadoes spin viciously around the forest, splintering trees and devastating the ground below. “You’re the one who specialises in Taijutsu!”

“Fire Style” Ashley barks, unconcerned with Kiba and Neji’s arguing, “Running Fire!”

Blowing out a jet of fire, Ashley waves her hands and uses her Katsuryoku to separate the fire into three parts. She then throws her hands up in the air, sending the large orbs of burning flames into her three tornadoes.

They immediately light up with a bright orange hue, catching on fire as easily as a field of dry grass.

Akamaru skids to a halt, just as one of the tornadoes changes direction and storms right past him, blasting both the Ninken and Kiba with burning hot wind.

“I’ve got your back Kiba!” Neji shouts over the sound of the three roaring tornadoes. “Just stop Ashley from using any long distance attacks!”

“Easier said than done genius….” Kiba mutters, only to look down as Akamaru lets out a series of concerned barks. “Akamaru!”

Jumping down from the Canine’s back, Kiba sees that his partner’s paws have been enveloped in mounds of hard earth, no doubt the work of Ashley’s Katsuryoku.

“Dammit….” Kiba growls under his breath, slamming a balled up hand into the earth to try and shatter it. “She can sense every move we make through the ground, so she’d know what we’re trying to do.”

“Ruff ruffruff!” Akamaru barks urgently, his fur standing on end. “Ruffruffruff!”

“Hm?” Looking up, Kiba’s eyes widen as he sees the incoming tornado, flames flickering and debris getting thrown in every direction.

“Eight Trigrams” Neji calls from the tree above Kiba, “Hazan Strike!”

Much to Kiba’s amazement, a large blast of pure chakra shoots away from the hand Neji jabs towards the tornado. It slams into the flaming pillar of wind with a resounding boom, before blowing straight through and causing the tornado to dissipate into the air.

“Wow…..” Kiba mutters, looking back to Akamaru as Neji bounds across the trees, keeping up with the destructive tornadoes to make sure none of his teammates get hit before he can get rid of them as well.

“Mmm mmm” Akamaru whines, pushing at Kiba’s shoulder with his nose. “Ruff ruff!”

“No, I can’t just leave you here boy” the Inuzuka responds, shaking his head as Neji manages to destroy another tornado with his Jutsu. “I know Neji is keeping an eye on the tornadoes, but-”

“Ruff ruff ruff!” Akamaru barks firmly, now trying to head butt Kiba away, wanting him to stop Ashley from hurting anyone else. While the Ninken cared greatly for Ashley, he didn’t like that the girl had hurt Kiba so deeply, and he wanted her stopped.

“Well….Alright then boy” the Inuzuka says hesitantly, rising to his feet. “I’ll stop he-”

“Wind Style: Typhoon Divide!” Ashley cries out, her voice followed by the incredibly loud buzzing sound of her destructive original Jutsu.

Whirling around, Kiba is just in time to see the glowing disc of severely concentrated Wind Nature chakra rip through the tree Neji had just leapt onto, causing him to drop towards the ground.

Ashley races across the ground towards him, performing another set of hand signs, narrowed eyes focused on the injured Neji.

“Wood Style” the Minami murmurs darkly, “Tree Bind, Eternal Burial!”

“No!” Kiba shouts, launching himself forwards, as a huge tree suddenly tears out of the ground and shoots up towards Neji. It wraps a number of thick branches around his body, suspending the scowling Hyuga in the air.

“Back to the earth from whence you came” Ashley jokes ominously, one hand on her hip as she waves goodbye to Neji.

The pale eyed boy bashes against the tree trunk, as it envelopes itself around his body, encasing him in a tight prison. The tree continues crushing Neji inside, until it becomes obvious that the boy is no longer alive, a small trickle of blood dripping from the bark.

“N-Neji……..” Kiba whispers, freezing in place with his eyes widened so far that it hurts. “I…I can’t….Believe it…..”

Ashley places her hands on her hips and tilts her head to glance at Kiba, as her third tornado dies out. Seeing as Kiba seemed to be frozen in place from horror, she had no need for it anymore. It wasn’t like he’d have the guts to attack her anyway.

Rolling her eyes, Ashley spins around and races back towards the flaming prison she’d created for Shikamaru, finally ready to steal the papers she needed to join the Akatsuki.

Shikamaru almost jumps with fright, as the black flames across from him suddenly open, allowing a smirking Ashley to enter the circle. As soon as she steps inside, the flames close up behind her, dark shadows dancing across her face due to the tall, flickering flames around her.

“These flames can’t be put out” Shikamaru comments lowly, careful not to take his eyes off of Ashley, “No matter what I try. I’d even go so far as to assume that water can’t douse this fire.”

“You’d be correct in your assumption” Ashley replies coldly, taking a step towards her tired ex-comrade. “The black flames of the Amaterasu are eternal and cannot be put out.”

“I’m not sure what you want from me” the Nara says quietly, hands in his pockets, “Or why you’ve kept me in here, but I’m not about to just let you do what you want-”

Shikamaru is cut off, when thin pillars of earth suddenly shoot up from the ground and wrap around his neck, roughly tugging him down to his knees. As Shikamaru pulls his hands from his pockets, more pillars stretch out of the dirt and wrap around his wrists, forcing them behind his back.

Eyes shining maliciously, Ashley steps forwards and kneels down in front of Shikamaru, the Nara’s brows furrowed as he holds her gaze.

“You don’t get a choice” the girl hisses, unclipping one of the pockets on Shikamaru’s flack jacket and reaching inside. The dark haired male’s eyes widen as Ashley grabs the papers from his pocket and rises back to her feet, waving them back and forth teasingly.

“My Sharingan sees everything” she informs the now wide eyed Shikamaru. “This is all I wanted. If you had’ve just given them to me, none of you would’ve gotten hurt and Neji wouldn’t be dead.”

“What?....” Shikamaru whispers, his body beginning to shake as he lowers his eyes.

“As punishment for capturing me” Ashley says, doing air quotes, “I’m going to leave you in here. I wonder whether you’ll die of dehydration or commit suicide first?”

That said, Ashley laughs as she walks out of a gap in the flaming circle, closing it up again behind her. She tilts her head and purses her lips as she looks down at the papers in her hand, wondering what they could be, before tucking them away into the weapons pouch strapped to her waist.

“Mission successful” the girl sighs, turning to leave, when she is suddenly tackled by something from behind. She is sent tumbling across the ground at high speed, before slamming into a tree and coming to a jarring halt.

Lying there for a moment, Ashley lets out a low groan and cracks one eye open, only to see Kiba flying towards her, one knee extended. Reacting quickly, Ashley flips to her feet and dives to the side, narrowly avoiding Kiba as his knee crashes into the tree and shatters through the bark.

Ashley bounds backwards a few steps, as Kiba struggles to wrench his knee free, only to hear a faint growl behind her. Sensing with her Katsuryoku, Ashley drops to the ground as she feels Akamaru launch himself forwards.

When Akamaru is directly above Ashley, the girl balls up her hands and pushes up with her legs, slamming the Ninken in the stomach with the knuckles of both her fists. Akamaru yelps as he is shot high into the air from the hit, causing Kiba to rip himself free in a rage.

He turns to Ashley, shoulders moving up and down as he breath heavily, hands opening and closing. He was so confused, hurt and angry, yet the Inuzuka still didn’t want to hit Ashley. He was glad she’d avoided the attack he’d just thrown at her, but he didn’t know how else to stop her either.

Kiba knew that the gentle approach was better with Ashley, as she responded better when she wasn’t being ordered around. Telling her to come home would only push Ashley away and make her resist even more than she already was……But the Inuzuka knew that it would take more than mere words to bring his best friend in the world home….

“Don’t take it out on Akamaru….” Kiba drawls roughly, glaring at Ashley as he curls his hands into tight fists. “If you want to fight, fight me.”

“I didn’t want to originally” Ashley replies shortly, raising an eyebrow, “But you guys are all stubborn idiots. Force was the only way. Now that you’re challenging me however…..”

“Your pride won’t let you walk away” Kiba chuckles humourlessly, shaking his head. “I’m going to beat you though, for your own good.”

“I’m not about to have a war of words with you” Ashley says icily, lip lifting to show her teeth. “I’ll just let my fists do the talking, and then maybe you’ll understand.”

Resigning himself to the fact that Ashley isn’t going to hold back, Kiba slides one foot back to take up a more sturdy position, eyes locked on his opponents movements. He’d sparred against Ashley before, and he’d seen her fight for real on many occasions, so at least he would know what to expect from her.

Without any warning, Ashley darts forwards, almost disappearing from sight and impressing Kiba with her sheer speed. The girl swiftly looms in front of Kiba, one fist aimed at his chin in an uppercut.

Reacting just as quickly, Kiba rolls his body to the side and jams his left elbow into Ashley’s arm, knocking it away. She then drops to the ground and swings out a leg, aiming to crack it against the side of Kiba’s knee.

Having expected this attack, Kiba places one hand on Ashley’s shoulder and does a forward flip in the air. As his feet are about to touch the ground again, Kiba heaves Ashley over his head, the motion of his flip accelerating the throw.

Spinning head over heels up into the air, Ashley throw her arms out to the side, causing a large chunk of rock to shoot up into the sky. She manages to flip around, feet hitting the small boulder and sticking to it, due to the chakra Ashley had concentrated into the soles of her feet. Hanging upside down, Ashley performs a hand sign, causing both of her hands to suddenly become encased in blue chakra. The end towards her fingers sharpens into a fine point, capable of slicing even the toughest bones.

Bending her knees, Ashley pushes herself away from the stone and shoots back down towards earth at an incredible speed, rotating herself around in a vicious spin, with Kiba glaring up at her and performing hand signs of his own.

“Tunnelling Fang!” the brunette calls out, also beginning to spin as he launches himself straight up into the air. He bursts through clusters of leaves and smashes through tree branches, the destructive power of his Jutsu not affected by his surroundings at all.

Ashley and Kiba collide with a painful cracking sound, before the two ricochet away from each other, with the Minami being shot right into a thick tree trunk. She grunts as her body presses into the bark, leaving a deep impression, while Kiba flips around in mid air and lands on a tree branch on all fours.

He keeps his eyes raised, watching as Ashley opens her eyes and pushes herself away from the tree. She lands at the opposite end of the same branch as Kiba on one knee, hands still glowing a bright blue. Scrunching one eye closed for a moment, the Minami raises an arm and tries to rub at it with the back of her wrist, a dull ache throbbing behind it.

Taking advantage of the moment, Akamaru drops down from a higher branch and lands behind Ashley with a thud, shaking the branch. He lowers his head and growls at the blonde as she pauses, hooding her eyes.

Choosing to ignore Akamaru for the moment, Ashley pushes herself away from the branch and races toward Kiba with her arms out by her side. The Inuzuka rises to his feet, ready for Ashley’s attack, as Akamaru lets out an angry snarl and charges after her.

Knowing what Ashley’s Chakra Scalpels are capable of, Kiba is careful to dodge the girl’s flurry of quick jabs, not wanting any muscles slashed. He brings up a knee as Ashley throws her glowing hand towards his already injured shoulder, cracking it against her elbow and getting in a quick jab to the girl’s stomach, pushing her back a little.

Sensing Akamaru running up speedily behind her, Ashley smirks at Kiba and whirls around. The Inuzuka’s eyes widen, watching as Ashley drops down into a slide, disappearing right underneath Akamaru.

Before Kiba can think, Akamaru lets out a pained yelp, legs giving out as he falls to the side and vanishes over the side of the branch.

“Akamaru!” Kiba cries urgently, not even thinking as he leaps after his partner.

The chakra fading from around her hands, Ashley places them on her hips and rolls her eyes.

“So predictable…” she mutters disdainfully, also jumping over the side of the branch and dropping toward the ground as she performs more hand signs.

Kiba manages to grab onto Akamaru as the two of them fall, with the Inuzuka hoisting his partner over his shoulder just before they hit the ground. While his knees collapse beneath the weight, Kiba lets out a relieved sigh and allows Akamaru to slide to the ground.

“You alright boy?” he inquires, to which the Canine responds with a thankful bark and lick to Kiba’s cheek.

“Earth Style: Stone Column Spear!” Ashley cries, just as she lands lightly on the ground and drops into a squatting position.

“Ahh shit….” Kiba curses, brows furrowing as cruel spears of rock begin tearing up through the ground, piercing through tree trunks and shattering boulders to pieces. “Tunnelling Fang!”

As rocky spikes begin shooting up through the ground around him and Akamaru, Kiba starts to spin violently and circle around his Ninken at such a high speed, the brunette creates a sort of shield around him. He easily smashes right through any spears that appear in front of him, only coming to a stop when he smells Ashley running towards them again.

Kiba lands on his feet in front of Akamaru, one arm raised up to the side protectively and his focused eyes narrowed at Ashley.

“I’m not going to let you touch him again” Kiba states confidently. “You’re not gonna hurt him anymore.”

“Doesn’t matter” Ashley replies, pulling her arm back as she looms in front of the Inuzuka, “I’ll get to the both of you eventually.”

Before Kiba is able to react, Ashley slams her fist into his cheek, the chakra enhanced hit sending him rocketing to the side. He tumbles across the earth side ways, unable to stop the momentum, until he crashes into a boulder.

“Ruff ruff!” Akamaru barks in concern, stumbling towards Kiba as fast as he can go, desperate to protect him from Ashley, who is stalking towards him slowly.

“You may be fast Kiba” the Minami taunts as she approaches, “But you’re not fast enough. My Sharingan can keep track of even your movements.”

As Kiba pushes himself up to his hands and knees, one hand holding his head, Akamaru jumps in front of him and bares his teeth at Ashley, head lowered and ears back.

“Hn” Ashley scoffs, her body lighting up with black electricity as she performs a set of complicated hand signs. “Well, seeing as you’re so willing to die first…..Lightning Style: Black Wolf Jutsu.”

“Arrrrr!” Akamaru growls fiercely, moving to run forwards as the lightning separates from Ashley’s body, only to find that he once again can’t move his legs. “Ruff?”

“It’s just too easy” Ashley chuckles, shaking a finger at Akamaru, as the electrified Wolf beside her suddenly lets out a static ridden howl and barrels towards the Ninken.

“No!” Kiba cries out, ashen faced as he sees that Akamaru has no way to dodge the incoming attack. “Akamaru!”

With a loud explosion, the electrified Wolf charges into Akamaru, causing him to howl in pain as a cloud of dust blows up into the air.

“A-Akamaru!” Kiba barks, stumbling to his feet and walking through the dust cloud, trying to sniff out his partner. With a wave of her hand, Ashley blows away the dust, allowing Kiba to see his fallen Ninken.

Seeing the blood and dust covering Akamaru’s body, and the way some of his fur is singed, tears fill Kiba’s eyes and he drops to his knees. He places his shaking hands on Akamaru’s side, gently petting his fur and trying to wake him up.

“….Akamaru…..’ Kiba whispers, bowing his head until his forehead touches the Ninken’s white fur, “I-I’m so sorry for not protecting you…..”

Wiping an arm across his eyes, Kiba rises to his feet and glares at Ashley, eyes shining brightly.

“So, you think I’m not fast enough huh?” he growls deeply, anger burning inside of him. “Well, let me change that for you. Let me show you what a challenge I can really be! Ninja Art of Beast Mimicr-”

Before Kiba can finish his hand signs, Ashley throws her arm towards him, the flesh quickly stretching out and morphing into sturdy bark. It wraps itself tightly around Kiba’s throat, making him gag loudly.

“You really think I’m going to let you use your All Fours Jutsu?” Ashley questions darkly, slowly lifting Kiba into the air. “I’m arrogant, but not that stupid.”

“Y-You just know th-that you w-won’t win if I d-do use it” Kiba manages to wheeze, making Ashley’s eyes narrow slightly. Not bothering to respond with words, Ashley raises her arm and, moving it in a circular motion, slams Kiba heavily down into the ground behind her.

She then turns around, releasing Kiba’s neck from her grip and walking towards the Inuzuka as her arm retracts, turning back to flesh and bone. Picking up her pace, Ashley leaps up into the air and flips around, jamming her knee painfully into Kiba’s stomach. His body automatically jerks up at the force of the hit, the male’s eyes widening as he coughs up a small amount of blood.

Moving to get out from underneath the blonde, Kiba growls with frustration as he feels hardened earth forming around his wrists and ankles. Clearly Ashley wasn’t about to let him get away.

The hood eyed girl looks down at Kiba carelessly, not disturbed by his glare at all as she stands up and places on foot on his chest, hands on her hips.

“You should’ve known better than to challenge me” she states flatly, to which Kiba smirks nastily and spits some blood out onto the ground.

“You should know better than to fight the people that love you” he retorts vehemently, eyes wavering as Ashley closes her eyes and lets out a sigh. She quickly drops to the ground, cloak fluttering behind her, and sits on Kiba’s stomach. She places one hand beside the brunette’s head and leans towards him, with Kiba’s eyes widening at her close proximity. She stares down at him emotionlessly, her black and red eyes as cold as stone.

“You should know that I don’t love you” she whispers icily, Kiba’s eyes drifting from her face and dropping down to the hand that has begun to spark with pure electricity, reminiscent of Kakashi’s Lightning Cutter.

Feeling strangely calm, Kiba also hoods his eyes, tears beginning to form in them again, and looks back up at Ashley’s face.

“Is this the person you were when you were with Orochimaru?” he questions softly, voice shaking.