Edited 16/05/2020

Third Person's POV

Kurai, Saffire and Fang cheer at Ashley's declarations, with Kiyumi sighing in relief and Atsui smirking. Chief Dashi nods his head in approval at his Granddaughter, before raising his eyes to see the uncertain faces of the Leaf Ninja.

The Genin look between Ashley and their teammates, shrugging their shoulders and fidgeting in place. Some turn to glance at their Sensei for reassurance, though the Jonin all seem to be staring at Ashley, mouths turned down.

"What seems to be the issue Leaf Ninja?" Dashi questions, though he can imagine the answer.

He remembered the Ninja of the Hidden Leaf. While most of them had been friendly, they had all been incredibly dutiful as well. Something that could cause an issue.

"Well" Kakashi speaks up, sweat dropping. He knew what Ashley was going to say. "I'm afraid we can't let you kill Sirius Ashley."

"....Why not?" the blonde growls, glaring up at her Sensei through narrowed eyes, her teeth gritting together.

"What's your problem?!" Saffire demands to know, angry at the silver haired man. "You gonna try and make enemies out of us too?"

"Sirius is a client of the Leaf Village" Kakashi sighs, having expected this reaction. "We sort of have a rule about not killing our clients."

"That's great Kakashi Sensei" Ashley says sarcastically, her expression dark, "But I don't really care about that right now. He's broken so many rules here and is trying to kill off what remains of my Clan, so you'll have to excuse me if I don't give a damn about the client anymore!"

"Exactly!" Saffire agrees vehemently, nodding and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ashley, you can't kill him" Kakashi reiterates.

"And why not?!" Ashley shouts, hands curling into fists down at her sides. "He's killing them!"

Sakura and Naruto exchange a worried look between themselves, before peering up at Kakashi, who seems as calm as usual despite Ashley's increasing anger.

They didn't know what the right answer here was. On one hand, they could understand Ashley's stance on the matter but on the other......It was technically their mission to help Sirius....

"Please calm yourself Milady" Ace urges quietly, nudging the girl. "Getting angry will not help the situation."

"But he's-"

"Lady Tsunade may like you Ashley" Kakashi reasons seriously, interrupting the blonde before she can argue with Ace, "But if you kill the client, she'll have no choice to throw you in jail the moment she finds out."

"Ley-chan can just stay here then!" Kurai announces, bounding over to the blonde and hugging her arm tightly. She looks up at Kakashi through her lashes, the corners of her mouth pulled down. "She belongs here anyway...."

The members of Team Seven, as well as Kiba and Akamaru, seem to straighten up at this declaration. Kiba glares back at Kurai, as the other Minami all nod their heads in agreement.

Surprised by this statement, Ashley turns her head and looks down at Kurai in confusion. It seemed that the thought of staying in the Land of Ambience hadn't even occurred to the blonde.

"Oh...." Rei says thoughtfully, lifting her head and blinking her now wide eyes. She looks to Ashley, wondering what the girl will have to say about such a declaration.

'She can't stay here' Kiba thinks to himself, biting his lower lip as he watches Ashley, hoping she won't actually consider the possibility. 'She belongs in the Leaf Village with all of us.'

"Ashley" Kakashi sighs again, briefly closing his eyes, "We have to continue with this mission. We need Sirius to believe that-"

"If you continue with this mission" Ashley warns lowly, her head snapping back up to face her Sensei. "Then you'll all become my enemies as well. I hope you know that."

"Ashley" Sakura gasps, her eyes wide. "Kakashi Sensei, I don't want to be-"

"None of us want to become your enemy Ashley, don't be so silly" Kakashi scolds, a sharp look in his eye as he holds Ashley's glare. "I don't like this any more than you do, but we need to continue this mission. We need Sirius to believe that nothing has changed and we're still here to help him and his men."

Ashley glowers at Kakashi for a few more seconds, before her eyes widen and she straightens up. She curiously tilts her head to the side, as she seems to catch on to Kakashi's meaning.

"If we want to stop Sirius" Kakashi concludes, his expression softening, "We need to keep his trust."

Ashley lowers her gaze and watches the floor for a few moments, before chuckling sheepishly and raising her head.

"I'm sorry Kakashi Sensei" she apologises awkwardly. "I should know you better by now."

"Wait, wait" Saffire huffs. "What the heck is going on here? Are we killing that bastard or not?"

"We can't kill him" Kakashi says innocently, shrugging one shoulder. "But one of you can."

"But Kakashi Sensei" Ino speaks up, perplexed. "You said that we can't kill Sirius! What're you-"

"Our mission was just to help Sirius rid this island of the rogues" Shikamaru answers, having figured out Kakashi's meaning. "We can't kill the client, but if one of those Minami do it, we can't be held responsible."

"Aw sweet!" Kiba grins. "A loophole!"

"If an outside source kills Sirius" Sakura thinks out loud, tapping her chin, "We can't get into trouble for breaking the rules. If he dies, then you guys are free to take your island back and none of us have to go to prison. It's a great idea Kakashi Sensei!"

"I wasn't promoted to Jonin for nothing" the silver haired man jokes, before turning to his fellow Leaf Ninja. "So, are we all on board for this change in plan?"

"Hell yeah!" Kiba cheers, with Akamaru barking his agreement.

"Sounds good to me" Kurenai says with a nod.

"I'll do whatever I can to help" Sakura states, trying to hide how nervous she feels with this sudden and drastic change in plan.

"Can't I just kill whoever this guy is?" Kai complains, annoyed that he won't get to kill anyone. After listening to all this talking, why couldn't he at least help kill someone?

"We gotta help Ashley-chan and her friends" Naruto agrees, a serious look in his blue eyes. He locks eyes with Ashley and sends her a determined smile, to which she smirks back.

Sasuke looks between Ashley and Kiyumi warily, the younger of the twins still partially hiding behind her sister. While he had been listening to what was being said, Ashley's sister had been staring at him and it had been somewhat distracting during the whole spiel.

A few times since his introduction, the seemingly timid Kiyumi had silently studied him with interest. It was almost the same way Ashley had looked at him when they had first met. First it was surprise and then, a strange sort of interest.

Not that Sasuke could really talk. Something about Ashley had always piqued his interest as well, and seeing as Kiyumi looked just like her, it was that same feeling again. It was almost like Sasuke had a distant memory of Ashley and Kiyumi, but the Uchiha couldn't figure out why.

Had he known them when he was a child or something? Maybe they had passed by each other in the street one day?

Sasuke didn't remember much from the time before the Uchiha Clan massacre. He remembered his family, but anything outside of that felt like it was lost in a haze....

"We'll have to be careful about this" Shikamaru adds, shoving his hands in his pockets as the other Genin all nod.

Sasuke blinks a few times, Shikamaru's voice having broken him out of his train of thought. The raven haired boy turns his attention to Kakashi, though it didn't really matter what he was about to say.

Of course Sasuke was going to help Ashley.

"We're going to need one of you Minami to do the actual killing" Kakashi announces, to which the young Clan members all look amongst themselves. "Are any of you capable of killing?"

"Please" Atsui scoffs, rolling his eyes. "Any one of us will gladly kill him."

"N-Not me" Kiyumi disagrees quietly. "I don't want to face him..."

"You don't like, have to Kiyu-chan" Keilor comforts the girl, nudging her hand with his nose. "Atsui will totally like, rip that guy to pieces."

"I'll do it" Saffire volunteers, stepping forwards before Atsui can protest. "Fang and I will happily kill that jerk."

"I don't know how we're supposed to get close enough to him" Fang sweat drops. "He never leaves that Tower and we're all extremely recognisable in the Village. We'd be attacked as soon as we set foot in that place."

".....What if we pretend to capture you?" Shikamaru suggests after a short silence. "They won't attack you if we escort a captured rogue to see Sirius, right?"

"That's a great idea Shika-kun!" Ashley exclaims, her bright smile embarrassing the Nara and making him avert his gaze.

"Yeah, well...." he mutters, trailing off. "What do you think Kakashi Sensei?"

"I think it's a great idea Shikamaru" the Jonin praises. "We need to work out some details before we head out though."

"Details?" Sakura questions. "Like what?"

"Well, how are we going to parade Saffire and Fang through the Village?" Kakashi asks the group. "If we're pretending to capture her, we need to make it look believable."

".....You'll need to tie Saffire's hands together behind her back" Kiyumi informs everyone softly, feeling nervous to have so many eyes on her. "They know how our Kekkei Genkai works, so if her hands are free, they'll feel threatened."

"Excellent" Kakashi compliments the blonde, making her duck her head. "Valuable information, thank you Kiyumi."

"I believe I have some rope in my backpack" Shino offers, to which Kiba nods.

"Yeah, me too".

"So, if you're alright with it Saffire" Kakashi addresses the Minami, "We'll tie you up and walk with you in the middle of our group."

"Fine with me" Saffire sniffs, hands on her hips.

"How is she going to attack Sirius if her hands are tied?" Asuma queries. "It's all well and good to have this plan, but it's useless if she can't attack. And we can't have someone cut her free with a kunai, that'll be too obvious."

"As long as you leave room for my wrists to move a bit" Saffire counters the argument easily, "I can create a small dagger of ice to cut myself free. I'll be sure to strap a pouch to myself with a small amount of water in it."

"Do we need to bring the Wolf?" Asuma asks, rubbing his chin. "I don't know how we're meant to tie it up and then set it free."

"You have to bring Fang!" Ashley barks, to which the other Minami all agree, looking slightly annoyed by Asuma's question. "Minami never go anywhere without their Guardians."

"Even if Saffire were really captured" Fang adds firmly, "I would sooner fight to the death to protect her than leave her. Sirius and his men know this. They'd be suspicious if Saffire turned up without me there too."

"Okay" Asuma shrugs. "So how are we getting the Wolf in too then?"

"Could you carry her over your shoulder Asuma Sensei?" Sakura suggests, brows knitting in thought. "She can pretend to be unconscious."

"Well uh, I don't know about that...." Asuma sweat drops, sounding doubtful as he eyes the black furred Wolf.

She lays her ears back and hoods her eyes, seemingly unimpressed with the suggestion.

Saffire stares hard at Asuma, before turning her head away and huffing.

"Fine" she says harshly. "But you'd better be careful with her."

Fang and Asuma both look at each other for a few seconds, before the two of them hang their heads and sigh, sweat dropping at the idea.

Fang didn't want to be slung over some random man's shoulder like a trophy pelt and Asuma didn't want to carry the Wolf. She looked heavy and more than that, he certainly didn't want her to bite him.

"Alright, now that we have that sorted out" Kakashi takes over again, "Is there anything else that we need to know?"

A few of the Minami briefly pause at this question, seemingly in thought about something. As Kurai is about to open her mouth and speak however, Saffire cuts her off.

"Nope!" she states brazenly, punching one fist into the air. "Me and Fang will get Sirius so quick, he won't even have time to do anything about it!"

People bustle to and fro in the Village, some rushing past each other in a hurry and others pausing to chatter amongst themselves in the streets. Soldiers, standing out from the citizens due to their their uniforms, march down the dirt roads in pairs. Some stare straight ahead, alert for any trouble, while others are more casual, pausing at food stands and speaking with other Villagers that they know.

People slowly begin to turn around and pause however, their eyes narrowing and their noses wrinkling in disgust when they see the large group of people walking through their Village.

The Leaf Ninja pay it no mind however, walking towards the Zenchokage Tower in a group. They had been warned that they Villagers would probably react quite negatively when they saw one of the infamous Minami with them.

In the centre of the group, her arms tied behind her back, Saffire trudges forwards, her head hanging low. While she knew she looked like a miserable criminal that had been caught, really Saffire just wanted to cover the fierce scowl on her face by hiding beneath her hair.

These people had no right to look at her with such revulsion. She and the other Minami had never done anything to these people, aside from steal food every now and then.

Who knew what sort of stories Sirius had been feeding to his soldiers and the Villagers though. He could say whatever he wanted about them and they'd probably believe it.

Kakashi, walking behind Saffire and holding onto the other end of the rope that binds her, makes sure to keep a close eye on both Minami girls in the group. He'd purposefully made Ashley walk right beside him, so he could keep her from losing her cool and doing anything stupid.

From the corner of his eye, Kakashi can see the grimace on Ashley's face. She had noticed the reaction of the Villagers of course and thankfully, she seemed to be beating her pride down for the time being.

Asuma, walking at the very back of the group, keeps one hand gently pressed over Fang's back to steady her. The large Wolf, who is surprisingly light for her size, dangles over Asuma's shoulder with her eyes closed, pretending to be unconscious.

Despite being able to hear the whispers of the people around her, the Wolf keeps her body limp and her ears lying flat. She couldn't do anything about the hateful things the people were saying about Saffire right now, no matter how much she wanted to.

At the head of the group, Kurenai leads the Leaf Ninja towards the Zenchokage Tower, sighing as she hears some of the things being whispered around them.

"Kiba" the woman warns quietly, turning her head slightly to see the Inuzuka glaring at some of the Villagers as they pass by. "Don't."

"But can't you hear what they're saying Sensei?" Kiba seethes. "They can't talk about Ashley's Clan like that."

"Try to ignore it for now" Kurenai encourages quietly, before turning her head back around.

Kiba scoffs under his breath, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket as they curl into fists. Hinata reaches out and places a comforting hand on Kiba's arm, sending him a tiny smile of reassurance.

She thought it was cruel of the people to speak the way they were, and to say such things loud enough for Saffire to hear....

"Why are they being so mean?" Naruto mutters in disapproval, blue eyes drifting over all of the scornful looks of the people. Those expressions seemed so familiar to him.

"They've been told a lot of horrible things about the Minami" Sakura whispers. "They probably don't know any better."

"Well, they should get their facts right before saying all that stupid stuff" Naruto says stubbornly, brows furrowing. "It's making me angry."

"I hope Sirius kills you!" a man suddenly shouts in a venomous tone, jabbing his hand towards Saffire and pointing at her. "Just like your people killed my brother!"

Ashley immediately halts in her walking, as her neck wrenches around for the girl to bare her teeth and growl at the man. Without breaking pace, Kakashi places his free hand on Ashley's back and pushes her along.

"Just bare it for now" the man says under his breath, not looking down. "We know it's not true."

Ashley gives her Sensei a wounded look, before sighing and shrugging his hand off of her. She knew he was right, it just wasn't fair. The Minami Clan had been cruelly slaughtered and now they were being treated like murderers on their own land.

"Ugh, these people are so rude" Ino mumbles to Shikamaru, folding her arms over her chest as she walks. "I won't be surprised if they start throwing things soon."

"This is such a drag" Shikamaru agrees. "But it's worth it if it means we can help the Minami out."

The small procession continue through the Village, doing their best to ignore all of the evil expressions and nasty words directed towards Saffire. The older girl does well to keep her head down and remain silent, though she can feel the anger building inside her with every word shouted in her direction.

She couldn't wait to jam her dagger through Sirius' chest.

"Halt!" a loud voice calls, as the Leaf Ninja arrive at the doors of the Zenchokage Tower. "State your business."

"I'm Kurenai Yuhi, one of the Leaf Ninja hired to help Lord Zenchokage with the rogue Ninja" Kurenai introduces, gesturing behind her. "As you can see, we have managed to capture one of the rogues and wish to bring her before Lord Zenchokage so that he can decide her fate."

The two soldiers at the doors glance behind Kurenai. Looking past the solemn faces of the Leaf Genin, their expressions harden when they see Saffire's black and white hair.

"I see" the first soldier says, nodding to the other. "Lord Sirius will be very pleased. Enter!"

"Allow me to fetch Lord Sirius for you" the second soldier offers, pushing the large doors open and ushering the Leaf Ninja inside, before hurrying up a stairway.

The Leaf Ninja all wait in silence, as Kakashi had instructed them to do before they had left the Minami Temple. The Genin were beginning to feel a bit restless now. In only a few minutes, Saffire would break free of her bonds and attack the very client that had hired them in the first place.

"Ahh, my friends!" a joyous voice greets, causing everyone to look up at the top of the stairway. "I see you've brought a visitor to me....."

Sirius stares down at Saffire through narrowed eyes, though the Minami girl doesn't even move at the sound of his voice. The green haired man smirks, his eyes drifting over to Ashley, who is glaring up at him intensely.

It certainly was an interesting development, seeing the Leaf Ninja bring the Minami girl to him like this. Why would they bring her to him, knowing that he's going to kill her, with Ashley in tow?

It didn't make sense.

"Nio" Sirius addresses his soldier quietly, whispering over his shoulder. "Go and get reinforcements."

"....Yes sir" the man responds robotically, before hurrying down the stairs and out through the front door.

"Now" Sirius says loudly, slowly descending down the stairs with a smile on his face, though his golden eyes now seem somewhat dangerous, "What to do with this gift you've brought to me..."

Ashley feels herself growing more and more tense with every step Sirius takes closer to them. She notices slight movement from behind Saffire's back, only to see that the older girl has already created an icy dagger and is subtly cutting away at her bindings.

"I hope it wasn't too much trouble to capture her" Sirius continues, reaching the bottom of the stairway and pausing. "I know this one can be a bit wild."

"She didn't do too much damage" Kakashi assures the green haired man, suddenly feeling a bit uncertain about Sirius for some reason. "We outnumbered her and the Wolf."

"I see" Sirius purrs, resting one hand on the bannister of the stairway, eyes drifting to Ashley. "It must be difficult, dragging a member of your Clan to her death like this. It's really a shame."

"......It really is a shame" Ashley agrees tightly, holding Sirius' smug gaze with a sharp look of her own.

What was he trying to do here? And why wasn't he coming any closer?

"You all seem so tense" Sirius laughs in a jolly manner, before his mouth curls into a smirk. "This poor girl, she can't even look me in the eyes. She must be-"

Sirius cuts himself off, ducking his head to look down at his feet. He grits his teeth in a snarl, when he sees ice crawling up his legs, freezing his feet to the ground.

"Who would want to look scum like you in the eyes?!" Saffire explodes, suddenly leaping forwards with her fangs bared viciously.

As the ropes that had been binding Saffire fall to the ground, Fang abruptly comes to life as well and leaps down from Asuma's shoulder, sending him stumbling backwards from the force of her pushing away.

"Just die already!" Saffire screams, jumping at Sirius with her arm pulled back.

Kakashi and Asuma both run towards the doors and slam their shoulders against them, barring anyone from being able to enter the Tower.

Sirius's eyes bulge as Saffire stabs him in the chest with her ice dagger, blood spurting from the would. Before Saffire can get away, Sirius grabs onto her face with both hands and wrenches it back to look up at him.

The girl lets out a gasp as Sirius glares down into her eyes, before he releases Saffire and she slumps to the floor.

"Saffire!" Fang cries out in dismay, skidding to a halt beside the girl.

Despite his injury, Sirius begins to laugh hysterically, using one hand to steady himself against a wall. He stumbles a little, as the ice around his legs cracks and crumbles to the floor.

"If you were going to have her kill me" the man grins, "You might have taught her where to stab me first!"

"What did you do to her?!" Ashley shouts, charging forwards, only for Fang to leap in front of her.

"Don't!" the Wolf warns, her blue eyes wide as she turns around, just in time to see Saffire slowly climb to her feet. "This is bad...."

Everyone watches as Saffire turns around to face them, a pained expression on her face.

"Dammit...." she breathes out, sweat running down the side of her face. She glances down at her hands, only to see them pulling the cracked ice from the ground and forming it into another ice dagger.

Before she can warn anyone, Saffire suddenly charges forwards and flings the her arm forwards, plunging her dagger into the first person she can reach.

"Kiba!" Ashley cries out, eyes wide in disbelief.

Hinata's hands fly over her mouth in horror and some of the other Genin gasp, as Kiba punches Saffire away from himself and stumbles backwards, hands gripping the dagger now lodged in his side.

He drops down onto one knee, groaning, as blood begins to soak through his jacket.

"What are you doing?!" Choji calls out, as he and Shikamaru run to protect Kiba from Saffire.

"I w-wasn't expecting that" Kiba mutters through clenched teeth, one eye scrunched closed with the pain. "I knew she h-hated me but..."

"I'm sorry Dog Boy!" Saffire cries, her eyes wavering. "I can't control myself!"

"What are you talking about?!" Ashley demands to know, wrenching her eyes away from the injured Kiba to glower at Saffire.

"It's Genjutsu" Fang informs everyone, baring her large fangs as Sirius begins to laugh again. "If you look into his eyes, he can cast a powerful Genjutsu to take over your body."

"Why didn't anyone think to tell us about this before?!" Sakura exclaims, panicking.

"I told you Minami were arrogant people" Sirius chuckles lowly, ripping the ice dagger from his chest and dropping it to the floor.

"What's going on in there?!" an angry voice suddenly calls from outside of the Tower doors, before someone bangs on them loudly.

"Nothing!" Kakashi calls back innocently, only to sweat drop when someone bashes against the door again.

"Lord Sirius!" the voice yells. "Lord Sirius!"

"I didn't think this would happen!" Saffire shouts apologetically, already running forwards again. "I thought we'd just kill him and this wouldn't be a problem!"

"You're an idiot!" Ashley shouts back, activating her Katsuryoku and throwing her arms up as Saffire tries to stab Hinata with another ice dagger.

The dagger swiftly melts to water and splashes to the ground, allowing Hinata to throw her palm forwards and jab Saffire in the shoulder. The Minami girl cries out in pain and is flung backwards from the force of the chakra powered hit.

As Saffire lands on her butt on the ground, Fang bares her teeth at Sirius and launches herself at him. Focusing her chakra into the ends of her fur, Fang curls into a ball and slams into Sirius' chest.

The man lets out a shout of pain as the sharp fur tears at his skin, and he is sent ricocheting backwards into the stairway. Fang rebounds back and lands on all fours, narrowing her eyes at Sirius. He lies motionlessly on the cracked stairs, a faint cloud of dust billowing around him.

Ashley can't help staring in wonder at Fang, not having known she could do such a thing. She'd always been a healer when Ashley had known her, but it seemed she had figured out another way to use her impressive ability to focus chakra.

"Can't she just release the Genjutsu?" Ino asks urgently, only for Ashley to shake her head.

"She doesn't know how to use chakra Ino!" the blonde reminds her. "And anyway, it seems like a really strong Genjutsu...."

"I can break it" Kurenai decides, darting past the Genin, her palms pressed together. "Kai, release!"

Dodging around Saffire, Kurenai slides behind the Minami and presses her palm against the girl's back. Using the flow of her chakra to disrupt Sirius' Genjutsu, Kurenai, a Genjutsu expert herself, manages to free Saffire from the man's grasp.

"Ah!" Saffire barks, blinking a few times, before turning to face Kurenai with wide eyes. "That was amazing!"

"Open up!" a new voice demands from outside. Kakashi and Asuma both sweat drop as something collides with the doors they are braced against.

"We're not done talking yet!" Kakashi informs the men outside, trying to sound casual. "Give us a minute!"

"Quickly Saffire" Fang urges. "We have to finish this!"

"Right!" the Minami agrees, turning to glare at Sirius as he slowly sits up. A sudden shout from Sasuke however, causes Saffire to whirl around just in time to see him slide backwards from a kick in the stomach.

"What the hell Naruto?!" Sasuke grunts, watching the blonde land in a crouch.

"Ahhhhh!" Naruto panics, rising to his feet. "Sorry Sasuke! I didn't mean to look him in the eyes, but I did and now I can't-yahhhh!"

Sasuke throws up one arm to block a punch from Naruto, before grabbing onto the blonde's wrist and twisting it painfully. Naruto falls to the ground in a heap, complaining about Sasuke hurting him.

"He's dangerous even when he's hurt" Shino points out, crouched down beside Kiba as Hinata tries to help with his injury.

Akamaru, mad that Sirius had made Saffire hurt his best friend, spins around and runs at the green haired man. With a growl, Akamaru throws himself at Sirius and latches his sharp teeth onto the man's shoulder.

Sirius lets out a sharp yell of pain and slaps at his shoulder, only for Akamaru to release him and jump down the stairs, still growling.

"G-Good boy Akamaru" Kiba praises, patting the Ninken's head. "Y-You're a big help."

Ashley can't help sighing with relief as Sasuke releases Naruto and allows him to stand, the blonde seemingly free of Sirius' Genjutsu, when something catches her attention.

Feeling the vibrations through the ground, the faint movements becoming stronger and stronger, Ashley's eyes grow wide. Her head snaps up and looks to the door, heart beginning to pound.

"Kakashi Sensei, Asuma!" the girl addresses urgently, the dismay in her voice causing both Jonin to look over. "There's a huge group of people running for the Tower!"

"Reinforcements" Saffire swallows thickly, now looking towards the door as well. "We've gotta get out of here!"

"How many Ashley?" Kakashi calls over his shoulder.

"I don't know!" the blonde admits, eyes darting around as she looks for other escape routes. "But there are way too many for us to handle!"

"It's about time" Sirius sighs, hooded eyes glaring down at the bloodied wound in his chest. "I've had enough of this......Make no mistake, none of you will be escaping from this."

"Get away from the door!" Ashley shouts in warning.

Asuma and Kakashi obediently leap away from the door, just as they explode open. The heavy doors blast through the air and crash into the walls, splintering into tiny pieces and raining down over the floor, as Sirius' men flood into the room.

"Scatter!" Kakashi orders over the commotion, to which all of the Leaf Ninja leap into action.

Some crash through windows, while Choji uses his Human Boulder technique to blast his way right through the wall. The remaining Ninja all follow close behind him, scattering through the Village and disappearing into the forest.

"Lord Sirius!" one of the soldiers proclaims, running up to the man. "Are you-"

Before the man can finish his sentence, an angry Sirius glares into his eyes and activates his Genjutsu. Before anyone can protest, the solider pulls out a kunai and slices his own throat.

Some of the other soldiers look away as blood spurts from the gruesome wound, with the man collapsing to the ground before long, gurgling and choking on his own blood.

"What took you so long?" Sirius seethes, breathing hard. "Find those traitors and kill all of them! If any of you come back before they're all dead, I'll be sure to kill you and your families as well. Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes sir!" the soldiers all shout quickly, before breaking into small groups and dispersing out of the Tower.

"Let me help you sir" another soldier offers, his hands shaking slightly as he steps over his dead friend and offers his hand to the Zenchokage. "We need to have your wounds attended to."

Sirius reaches up and grabs into the man's neck, pulling him in close.

"You'd better make sure that no more of my blood is spilled onto this jacket" the man utters threateningly, his eyes dark. "This is my favourite jacket and if it is ruined any further, you're going to end up the same as him."

The solider glances down at the dead man on the floor, blood pooling underneath his head, before gulping and giving Sirius a nod.

"Y-Yes sir" the soldier agrees, helping his leader to his feet. "I understand..."

"I'm such an idiot!" Saffire cries, tears flowing from her eyes as she runs as fast as she can, back towards the Minami Temple. "I'm so stupid, Ashley is gonna hate me for this!"

"Never mind that now Saffire" Fang reprimands, glancing back and sniffing the air. "We need to keep running! We must reach the Temple and warn the others!"

"I know, I know" Saffire snivels, wiping her nose on her arm. "But what about everyone else? Do you think all those Leaf guys will be alright?"

"I don't know" Fang admits. "They seem capable enough, but Sirius and his men are deranged."

"If any of them die" Saffire whines, her lower lip trembling again, "I'm gonna get the blame for it and Ashley will hate me forever!"

"We can't focus on that right now" Fang sighs, wishing Saffire would just think about running away. "It's not like you to cry like this Saffire."

"Yeah, yeah I know, but-"

"We will have to place our faith in the Leaf Ninja" Fang interjects, still able to smell the soldiers pursuing them, "And once we get back to the Temple, we can all help them!"

"Help them?" Saffire asks, glancing down at her Guardian.

"We'll inform the Chief" Fang explains her meaning, a serious look in her icy blue eyes, "And then we'll all be able to head out and locate the Leaf Ninja. If we can get them all back to the Temple, they'll be safe."

Saffire blinks a few times, before her brows narrow and she nods in understanding.

"Let's hurry Fang!"

Kiba stumbles to his knees, breathing hard. He hisses in pain and instinctively reaches up to press one hand to his side, the dagger wound still bleeding.

"Dammit...." the Inuzuka pants, raising his hand up and seeing the fresh blood covering his fingers.

Akamaru whimpers, nudging Kiba's hand urgently, before looking around in all directions. He could smell those soldiers and if he could, that meant Kiba could too.

"I know boy" Kiba says quietly, briefly shutting his eyes. "I can smell them coming for us as well....."

Kiba inwardly curses Saffire for stabbing him earlier. He really hadn't been expecting her to suddenly attack him like that. He'd been so focused on Sirius and he hadn't even realised Saffire was really going to stab him until it was too late to react.

If he hadn't sustained such a damaging wound, he'd have been able to outrun those soldiers with his All Fours Jutsu no problem! Since he'd been stabbed however, Kiba had lost a lot of blood and running like this was only causing the blood flow to increase.

He'd have to rest soon and stop the bleeding, or else he was going to bleed out and die.

Growing more frantic, Akamaru bites down on Kiba's sleeve and begins tugging on it, whimpering louder now.

"Okay, I'm getting up boy" Kiba assures the small Ninken, gritting his teeth together as he climbs to his feet and leaps up into the trees.

Continuing to run away, Kiba grunts with pain every time he lands on a new branch, the wound in his side throbbing and stinging so much that he can barely focus on anything else.

"Arf!" Akamaru suddenly barks a warning, causing Kiba to look up.

Mid jump, Kiba manages to duck his head at the last second, narrowly avoiding colliding with a branch that he hadn't noticed.

"Shit....." Kiba grunts, landing on a lower branch on all fours, shoulders rising up and down as he breathes heavily. "I'm sorry Akamaru, but I really gotta rest...."

Akamaru runs back and forth, whimpering, as Kiba settles down with his back against the trunk of a tree, eyes closed. Tugging on it with his small teeth, Akamaru opens the pouch strapped to Kiba's waist and rifles around in it, before pulling out a roll of bandages and dropping it into his best friend's lap.

"Thanks buddy" Kiba laughs weakly, patting the pup's head. He reaches into the same pouch and produces a small stack of papers. "Akamaru, can you set these up while I bandage myself? Looks like we're gonna need a bit of extra help..."

"Arf arf!" Akamaru barks obligingly, taking the exploding tags in his mouth and leaping into the trees.

Watching the small dog disappear from sight, Kiba closes his eyes and leans his head back against the tree trunk, face scrunching up in pain. What he wouldn't give for a medic right now, then he'd be able to show those soldiers a thing or two.

"I bet Angel would be able to help" Kiba sighs to himself, taking off his jacket. "I hope she got away alright....."

Slowly and painfully, Kiba removes his shirt and begins wrapping the bandages around his torso as tightly as he can, to try and slow the bleeding down.

After a few minutes of silence, Akamaru drops down from the trees and lands in front of Kiba.

"Arf!" he barks proudly, tail wagging.

"Good job boy" Kiba praises, pressing one hand against the tree trunk as he struggles to his feet. "W-We better keep going then, huh?"

Akamaru whines at this, worried for Kiba, though he obediently follows as the determined Inuzuka begins bounding through the trees again.

Despite their keen senses of smell, Kiba and Akamaru didn't know which way they were heading and they couldn't smell any of the other Leaf Ninja at this point either. Thinking rationally, Kiba had thought it would be smart to head back to the Minami Temple. The problem was, he didn't know which way to go from here. Everyone had left the Zenchokage in such a hurried panic, that he wasn't really sure which direction he had been travelling through the forest.

Kiba struggles to keep his eyes open as he jumps through the trees, his body almost feeling numb now. He could barely feel the pain anymore and he was so tired.....

A resounding boom thunders through the air a short distance behind Kiba and Akamaru, followed by multiple other explosions in quick succession of each other.

"Heh...." Kiba smirks wearily. "Looks like they found our little t-trap, huh boy?"

"Arf!" Akamaru agrees, only to stop short as Kiba suddenly falls from the trees, his eyes closing. "Arf arf!"

Shaking his head, Kiba comes to and manages to clumsily land on his feet, before flopping over onto his back, panting hard. Akamaru drops down beside him, whining and sniffing at the boy, unsure of what to do.

"Dammit...." Kiba exhales, reaching up to pat Akamaru, his arm shaking. "Sorry boy, I think I a-almost passed out...."

Akamaru lets out a breath, trying not to panic. The pup glances around, his ears perking up a little when he notices a shallow hollow in a nearby tree. He clamps his jaws onto the back of Kiba's jacket and tugs on it, encouraging the Inuzuka to come with him.

"Heh, good idea Akamaru" Kiba says, dragging himself into the hollow to hide. He then pulls Akamaru into his lap and hugs the pup, closing his eyes again. "They won't see us h-here..."

Snuggling into Kiba's chest, Akamaru begins to softly whimper again, hearing how shallow Kiba's breath is.

What was he supposed to do?

Hearing the incoming footsteps, Sakura feels her breath quicken and she opens her mouth to say something, when Naruto slaps a hand over it, keeping the girl quiet. Sakura begins to tremble with fear, as Naruto sneakily peers around the wall they're hiding behind.

"I know those brats came this way" the two hear Nio growl, looking in the doorway of a run down building nearby. "They can't hide forever."

"It's getting dark" the other male voice complains. "I'm already sick of looking for these kids."

"Feel free to head back and let Lord Sirius know that" Nio sighs heavily, irritated. "He'll have your head."

"Come on Kabu" a third voice encourages. "We'll find them, kill them and then Lord Sirius won't be mad at all of us anymore."

"They can't be that far away" Nio deduces, slowly gazing around at the burned down buildings around him. "They're definitely hiding around here somewhere...."

Seeing the three soldiers disappear into another decrepit building, Naruto lets out a breath and drops his hand from Sakura's mouth. The pink haired girl drops to her knees and places one hand over her heart.

They had been running and hiding from a large unit of soldiers for two hours now and it seemed they had split up to try and find the two Leaf Ninja faster. Sakura and Naruto had been hoping to avoid fighting and just outrun the soldiers until they got sick of chasing, but it didn't seem like that scenario was going to play out at this rate.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispers so quietly, the girl almost doesn't hear him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just really scared" Sakura admits, rubbing her upper arms in a bid to warm up.

While the weather had been pleasant during the daylight hours, now that the sun was beginning to go down, the air was getting rather chilly.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan" Naruto assures the pinkette, his face serious. "I'll protect you, no matter what."

Sakura's eyes widen at this declaration, when a voice from above makes the two Genin freeze in place.

"How chivalrous" Nio sneers, standing on a branch and glaring down at the two. "If only you'd run away while you had the chance."

Nio places two fingers in his mouth and lets out a shrill whistle to alert the other soldiers, to which Naruto grabs onto Sakura's hand and tugs her to her feet.

"Let's go Sakura!" Naruto shouts, dragging the girl along behind him as he dashes away from their hiding spot.

"Don't think it's going to be so easy to get away...." Nio growls, flinging a kunai after the fleeing Genin.

Sakura lets out a gasp as something slashes through the ends of her hair and slices her cheek, narrowly avoiding her eye. The kunai sinks into a nearby tree with a thunk sound, the near miss causing Sakura to swallow a lump in her throat.

"Naruto!" she cries out, as another kunai flies past, grazing her shoulder.

Looking up and seeing the thin line of blood on Sakura's face, Naruto's expression darkens and he suddenly stops, placing both hands on his friend's shoulders.

"Stay hidden Sakura" he tells the girl firmly, shoving her behind a large bush before she can object.

Quickly climbing up onto her knees and peeking through the leaves of the bush, Sakura watches with wide eyes as Naruto runs towards their pursuers, hands pressed together in a sign. She sees two clones of Naruto appear, before they abruptly turn off and disappear into the forest.

"Aw, where'd your little girlfriend go?" Kabu teases Naruto, though the blonde pays him no mind.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he calls out, a large crowd of clones appearing just as Kabu flings a handful of kunai towards Naruto. Many of the clones instantly disappear as they are hit by the kunai, vanishing in puffs of smoke.

"Get them!" Naruto shouts, to which the remaining clones let out a loud war cry and charge into the fray.

They engage the Zenchokage's soldiers in a round of Taijutsu, fists meeting noses and elbows cracking against ribs. Sakura winces at the sounds. She had never cared much for physical combat. She didn't think she could handle the crumpling of someone's nose under her fist.

After few more minutes, all of the clones have disappeared and the lone Naruto is slammed to the ground by Nio.

"Face it kid" the muscular man smirks, stomping on Naruto's chest and keeping his foot in place. "You're no match for us. You're gonna die here, under my foot."

"Shut up" Naruto mutters, trying to catch his breath.

Nio scowls at the blonde's defiance, removing his foot from Naruto's chest, only to kick him in the ribs in anger. Naruto groans as he tumbles across the ground, coming to a sudden stop when he hits the trunk of a tree.

"Naruto!" Sakura is unable to stop herself from calling out, having jumped up from her hiding spot.

"Ah, so she is still here" the third soldier purrs, cracking his knuckles. "I'll take care of this one."

Sakura shrinks back from the soldier, dropping to her knees as he looms over her, twirling a kunai knife around his finger.

"Hey there sweetheart" the soldier teases Sakura, grinning wickedly. "Ready to die?"

"No!" Naruto shouts, only to disappear in a puff of smoke.

Sakura finds herself unable to look away from the menacing eyes staring down at her, her heart thudding against her chest. She is unable to speak, too frightened to move as the man jabs his kunai towards her.

"Rasengan!" Naruto explodes, leaping at the soldier and slamming a powerful ball of chakra into his back.

The man lets out a scream of agony as the chakra burns his skin, before he is blasted straight into a tree. The man hits the tree with such force that it cracks all the way through and slowly falls to the ground. There is a loud boom as the tree collides with the hard dirt, the other two soldiers staring in utter shock at what had become of their teammate in a matter of seconds.

Naruto jumps over the bush and lands beside a tearful Sakura.

"Naruto?" she sniffs. "H-How did you do that?"

"Akatsu!" Nio calls, still focused on the other soldier. "Are you alright?"

"C'mon" Naruto whispers, grabbing Sakura by the hand and pulling her along behind him again, as he breaks into a sprint.

Sakura looks back over her shoulder as the two run away, seeing that the two soldiers are checking on their friend. Too busy to notice the escaping Genin for the moment.

"It was easy" Naruto explains, not turning around as he runs. "Before they got to us, I created two Shadow Clones and one took my place at the front. I ran and hid with the other one, waiting for the perfect time to use my Rasengan."

"So, what were all those other clones for?" Sakura asks, incredulous.

"Just a distraction" Naruto chuckles to himself. "So they wouldn't hear me powering up my attack."

"Wow....." Sakura breathes, before glancing back over her shoulder. "I wonder why they aren't chasing us yet...."

"....I may have left another Shadow Clone back there" Naruto says mysteriously, though Sakura can hear the amusement in his voice.

She wondered how long it would take for those soldiers to notice. Surely it wouldn't take two of them long to defeat the clone. It was probably just a diversion tactic anyway, to give the two of them a little extra time to escape.

"You're running too slow Sakura-chan" Naruto decides, pausing for a second to sweep the pink haired girl up into his arms. He then leaps up into the trees, jumping from branch to branch in a minor effort to himself and Sakura a little.

Sakura stares up at Naruto as he focuses on escaping from the soldiers, slowly hooding her eyes and smiling to herself.

'Is this really Naruto?' she wonders. 'He's not acting like the same annoying dweeb he used to be....'

"Thank you for protecting me Naruto" Sakura says softly, looking down now. "I promise, one day I'm going to get stronger so you don't have to anymore."

This may be inappropriate given the current situation, but when I imagine Fang rolling at high speed at Sirius, all I can see in my head is Sonic the Hedgehog rolling around the way he does and it kind of takes me out of the moment xD