Third Person's POV

Ashley breathes heavily, her lungs seeming to burn as she gasps for breath. She'd been on the offensive for what felt like hours now, though she knew that wasn't the case.

Placing a hand to her side, Ashley closes one eye, her teeth gritting together at the stinging pain in her ribs.

Team Kurenai and Team Asuma had finally arrived and joined in the battle only a few minutes earlier, much to the relief of Team Shimei and Team Kakashi. While their addition to the fight still didn't do much to even out the numbers, it had certainly taken a lot of the stress off.

"Are you alright Milady?" Ace asks, to which Ashley waves one hand and nods her head. "You've used a lot of chakra."

"I think everyone has" Ashley manages to say between her breaths.

The soldiers around her now dangling helplessly in the air, having been impaled by Ashley's Stone Column Spears, the Minami takes a second to glance around.

She sees Kurai fighting alongside Shimei, the tiny pink haired girl looking almost comical next to the hulking figure of her boyfriend.

As Shimei exhales a huge flamethrower, Kurai steps forwards and moves her arms in a spinning motion, causing the air around her to whip up. As soldiers are lifted into the sky, being sucked into the tornado Kurai had created, Shimei's flames are fanned by the winds. In a matter of seconds, the spinning inferno tears across the ground, obliterating anyone and anything in its path.

Making sure to stay out of the way of the tornado, Tamashi dashes across the ground, the staff of his scythe grasped firmly in his jaws. He swings it backwards and forwards as he runs, streams of blue chakra trailing behind him as he goes. He slashes at everyone he can, their chakra being drawn from their bodies the moment his blade touches their flesh.

Skidding to a halt, Tamashi finds himself being confronted by three soldiers performing hand signs.

"Earth Style: Mud Wave!" they all call out, pressing their palms into the ground.

Tamashi watches as a huge wave of rock writhes up out of the earth, before it surges towards him.

Growling slightly, the Wolf slides one foot back to steady himself, focusing all of the chakra that he had collected into the blade of his scythe. With one almighty swing of his scythe, a huge blast of chakra, stolen from his enemies, cuts through the air towards the wave of rock.

It collides with the Jutsu with a loud explosion, sending rock and dust flying in all directions.

Kurai, seeing her Guardian disappear in a thick cloud of dust, runs towards him and swipes her arms up skyward. The cloud is swiftly blown up into the air, allowing Tamashi to see Kurai and run back towards her.

As pieces of shattered rock begin to rain down on the battlefield, Kiyumi raises her arms. Focusing intently, she manages to catch the rocks before they are able to land on any of her allies. She looks back down at the ground, quickly spotting some of the nearby Leaf Ninja, and begins dropping the small boulders, one by one, down on the enemies opposing them.

Not too far away, Rei stands beside Atsui, her whole body crackling and blazing with electricity. Having quickly figured out Rei's ability, Atsui had flagged her down to assist him.

Baring his sharp teeth in a dark grin, Atsui draws the electricity from Rei's body, causing it to circle around his forearms. Jabbing his hands out in different directions, Atsui begins blasting huge lightning bolts out across the battlefield, thunderous booms echoing through the air as each one leaves his body.

"I wonder if this is what Mom and Dad felt like when the island was attacked last time" Saffire can't help wondering through gritted teeth, narrowly managing to avoid getting hit with another round of shuriken.

This time, she manages to freeze the weapons in mid-air, before spinning around and sending them flying back at the soldier who had thrown them.

Fang comes rolling back over to Saffire's side, her chakra-imbued fur standing on end. She shakes herself, trying to rid her fur of the blood it had collected from the soldiers she had barrelled through.

"I imagine it was similar" Fang sighs. "Although these men are less disgusting than those monsters."

Fang pauses as Kai suddenly comes crashing into her view, dropping a mangled man at her feet.

"That's forty eight for me now" Kai boasts, baring his blood stained fangs in a victorious grin.

"I don't know how you can possibly look at this as a competition" Fan scolds, rolling her eyes. ".....But for the record, fifty three."

"What?!" Kai exclaims, aggravated. "No way a little lady like you has taken more down than me!"

"Pfft, just watch me" Fang sniffs, focusing her chakra into the ends of her fur again. She then launches herself forwards, curling into a ball and tumbling across the ground at high speed.

Kai's red eyes widen as the soldiers that Fang collides with begin to scream, their flesh being shredded by her sharp, needle-like fur.

"Watch it!" Saffire warns, dropping to one knee and throwing both arms above her head, dragging a wall of ice up in front of her and Kai.

A torrent of water smashes against the other side of the ice, before falling to the ground and pooling at their feet.

"I know she's great, but keep your eyes on the fight for now big guy" Saffire teases, releasing a low breath and wiping some sweat from her forehead.

"What're you-"

"Sixty two now" Fang announces, rolling to a stop in front of Kai and bouncing to her feet.

Kai stares down at the pretty Wolf for a few seconds, before he narrows his eyes and bares his teeth, lowering himself down towards the ground.

"I'll get to a hundred before you do" he promises, amused, before pouncing forwards to catch his next victim.

"Torpid Nee-Woah!" Tiez barks, skidding to stop, just as Kai tackles a man to the ground right in front of her. "Look out Boss! I'm right here!"

"Sorry kid" Kai smirks, only to leap at another man, swiping with his huge claws.

"That guy's a one man killing machine" Tiez admires, only to notice Naruto ahead of her, seemingly running from a huge crowd of soldiers.

As the blonde Ninja runs straight towards her, Tiez leaps up, landing on his shoulder.

"Need a hand?" the Wolf chuckles.

"Huh?" Naruto asks, not slowing down at all.

"Ninja Art: Frozen Mist!" Tiez calls, still perching on Naruto's shoulder as she breathes out a cloud of thick, yellow fog. "Give it a sec....."

"I wasn't running away from them!" Naruto announces, swatting Tiez's tail out of his face. "I'm trying to get to Sakura-chan! She needs help!"

"But I've basically lined em all up for ya!" Tiez whines, a dismayed look on her face when she sees the large crowd of soldiers all beginning to fall to the ground, paralysed.

She blinks in surprised however, as something huge comes rolling past, shaking the ground as it does so.

"Human Boulder!" Choji cries out, just as he crashes into the soldiers, sending their limp bodies flying in all directions.

"Woah cool!" Tiez exclaims. "Some of you guys have awesome powers ya know!"

"Wait til you see mine!" Naruto grins, placing his hands together. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

As soon as Naruto's clones all appear, they are hit by sparks of electricity, causing most of them to immediately disappear again.

"Hey, watch it!" Naruto demands angrily, raising one fist at Atsui as he runs by.

"Why don't you watch it?!" Atsui shoots back. "It's not like we're hard to see!"

"Be kind to him" Rei requests, her voice riddled with static. "He is Milady's precious friend."

"Good for him" Atsui mutters, before glancing down at the Wolf. "Are you doing alright?"

"I'm fine thank you" Rei smiles, though it is a little strained. "I'm starting to feel the effects of chakra loss though."

"I'll go back to creating my own electricity then" Atsui immediately decides, not wanting to tire Rei out completely. "Our abilities are strong when combined, but I can still-"

Atsui is cut off as he and Rei are hit with a blast of stinging wind. While Rei, despite being quite helpless against Wind Style techniques, is able to lower herself to the ground, Atsui is blown off of his feet.

He feels the chakra slicing at his skin, before his back hits something warm and soft, stopping him from being blown away.

"Tsumetai!"

The large ginger Wolf gives Atsui a closed eye grin, his tail wagging, as the Minami braces himself against his shapeshifting partner's leg.

Atsui sweat drops as a fireball suddenly blasts right past him and hits the soldier that had attacked. He blinks a few times, while Tsumetai tilts his head to the side.

He had been about to charge ahead and flatten the attacking soldier himself, but it didn't seem that would be necessary now.

Rei sighs and shakes herself vigorously as the chakra fuelled wind dies off, just as Sasuke runs past.

"Thank you dear!" the Wolf chirps, while Atsui deadpans at the smirk he sees on the Uchiha's face as he continues running.

Looking ahead again, Sasuke's smug look fades, eyes focusing on his cousin fighting against a particularly large man.

She dives out of the way as he brings down a huge hammer, narrowly missing her leg and smashing a deep crater in the earth instead. Spinning around, Ashley then drops to one knee and brings her arms up, a thick wall of rock shooting up and curving backwards to shield her. The hammer is brought down again with force, with Ashley pushing against the other side of the rock barrier.

Sasuke sees her arms shake from the force of the hammer hit, her teeth bared as she grits them together. The attacking man brings his hammer back again and throws it forwards, looking to smash right through Ashley's defence.

Maintaining his speed, Sasuke slides across the ground and scoops Ashley up into his arms, just as the soldier's hammer obliterates the rock wall and creates another small crater in the dirt.

"Sasuke?" Ashley squeaks, surprised to find herself in the Uchiha's arms.

He smirks up at his cousin, Sharingan eyes blazing, only for Ashley to turn her head, apparently a little embarrassed.

"You were moving slow" Sasuke teases. "Are you injured?"

"....My leg is giving me some trouble" Ashley admits, only for her eyes to widen. "Put me down, put me down!"

Not waiting to ask why, Sasuke comes to a stop and sets Ashley down, before turning to face whatever she is looking at. His eyes narrow, when he sees the man with the hammer looming over them, chakra glowing around his hammer.

"Fire Style" Sasuke calls out, placing his palms together. Immediately seeing what Jutsu Sasuke is about to use, Ashley slaps her hands together and performs the same set of hand signs as her cousin.

"Fireball Jutsu!" the two shout in unison, before exhaling two large fireballs directly at their attacker.

The two flames merge into one, crackling loudly as they blaze and burn the incoming man. He lets out a shout of pain, dropping his hammer. It hits the earth with a boom that causes it to tremor.

Dropping down to one knee again. Ashley raises her arms up, causing the earth around the soldier's feet to rise. It curls upwards, wrapping itself around the man's legs and locking him in place, rendering him unable to run.

As the flames fizzle out, Sasuke and Ashley both tense up, seeing the furious look on the man's face. Despite the awful burns to his flesh, it didn't seem that the man was ready to give up.

"You really think it'll be that easy?!" the man roars, reaching for his hammer.

As he is about to grab the handle of his weapon again, Jet charges past, snapping it up into his jaws. He grunts with the effort of lifting such a heavy item, opting to drag it along the ground.

Ashley smirks to herself as Jet begins to curve around behind Sasuke and Ashley, when Chi leaps off the larger Wolf's back. He flips around in the air and lands on the soldier's chest, front paws on his shoulders.

"Nighty night!" the pup barks brightly, his eyes flashing yellow.

Immediately, the soldier slumps backwards, much to Chi's delight. He turns to look at Ashley with glittering eyes, tongue hanging from the side of his mouth, when he suddenly pauses.

"Wuh-oh" he chuckles nervously, dropping down to the ground, just as the huge hammer collides with the soldier's chest.

The man is ripped from the ground and sent flying backwards, only to crash back into the earth and slide along it on his back, sending up a cloud of dust. Ashley and Sasuke both blink, watching for a few seconds to see if the man will stand up again.

Seeing that he is remaining motionless, the two Leaf Ninja slowly turn to look at Jet, who is huffing and puffing with the effort of throwing the huge hammer.

"That was heavy" is all the Wolf says.

"What the...." Kiba mutters, glancing down as a muscular man comes sliding right up to him, a huge hammer lying on his chest.

Confused, Kiba stares at the man, seemingly unconscious, only for a loud yelp to catch his attention.

"Akamaru!" the Inuzuka shouts, looking up in time to see the clone of himself tumble across the dirt and crash into the side of a building.

"Focus Kiba-kun" Hinata encourages her teammate, her back almost touching his. "More are coming."

"...Yeah, I know" Kiba mutters, his eyes lingering over where Akamaru had crashed.

After a few seconds with no movement, Kiba sucks in a breath.

Akamaru wasn't getting up this time.

"There are two coming from underground" Hinata advises, the hidden enemies unable to escape her Byakugan, even as she tilts her head back and watches one man leap into the air to attack. "Eight Trigrams Air Palm!"

Stepping forwards, Hinata thrusts one palm up towards the man, releasing a powerful blast of concentrated chakra.

The man splutters as he is hit in the chest, the force of the chakra stopping his trajectory in mid air and sending him flying back.

"Eight Trigrams: Thirty Two Palms!" the Hyuga shouts, immediately changing her stance and launching a speedy assault on more approaching soldiers.

Glaring down at the ground, Kiba crouches down, building up chakra in his feet. As soon as two enemy soldiers burst up out of the earth, he launches himself forwards.

"Tunnelling Fang!"

Not too far away, Asuma slashes the throat of a soldier with his Chakra blades, only to glance over his shoulder. He sees Hinata and Kiba engaging in a flurry of Taijutsu battles, the two Genin slowly being overrun by a large group of soldiers.

The Jonin had been trying his best to keep an eye on all of the Genin while fighting, but in the chaos of such a large scale battle, it was quite difficult to protect them all.

Asuma trusted both Kakashi and Kurenai however, so he was sure they were both doing the same as him.

"Hinata, Kiba!" Asuma calls, now sprinting towards the Genin. "Move it! Fire Style: Burning Ash!"

Asuma exhales a thick cloud of smoky ash, the dark grey fog billowing out into the air and rendering those lost in its murky depths, unable to see.

Coughing, Hinata stumbles out of the cloud of ash, though she is unaffected by it, having only just gotten caught at the edge of it. Spinning through the air violently, Kiba tears through the ash cloud and lands down on the ground beside Hinata, crouching down and breathing heavily.

Satisfied that the Genin are safe, Asuma pulls out his cigarette lighter, ready to set the ash cloud alight.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" a voice calls from behind the Leaf Ninja, when a volley of small flames flash by them.

After a quick succession of tiny explosions, the whole ash cloud lights up in flames with a whoosh.

Kiba and Hinata turn their heads away from the sudden burning light, the glow of the flames lighting up the night sky. Smoke billows up into the air, along with the screams of those caught in the attack.

"Thanks for the help" Asuma says, somewhat sarcastically, looking down as Ashley lands next to him.

While she leans one hand on her knee and bends over to catch her breath, the blonde raises one hand in a thumbs up.

Kiba blinks at the sight of a battered and bloodied Ashley, relieved to see that, despite her appearance, she is alright.

"Are you okay Ashley-chan?" Hinata asks, sounding tired herself.

Releasing a low breath, Ashley straightens up and sends both Hinata and Kiba a cheeky smirk.

"Of course" she boasts, though they can clearly see that she is lying.

Much like everyone else, Ashley had sustained injuries during the fighting and had used up a lot of chakra. She wasn't about to stand there and admit it to the others out loud though.

"Asuma Sensei!" a voice calls out urgently, catching the Jonin's attention. His eyes widen when he spots Ino and Choji facing off against a number of soldiers, immediately rushing off to help his students.

"I gotta help Akamaru" Kiba states, rising to his feet and glaring at the burning cloud in front of him.

"Where is he?" Ashley asks, also looking at the fire. Even though they were standing a few metres away, the two Genin could well and truly feel the burn of the flames against their skin.

".....He's on the other side of this" Kiba murmurs, annoyed. "I didn't see him get up after that last hit."

Ashley looks to Kiba with concern, before tilting her head towards the flames, brows furrowing.

While the Minami didn't think she had the ability to manipulate such large, violent flames with her Katsuryoku, she might just be able to blow them away...

Taking a deep breath, Ashley places her arms out to her sides, bent at the elbow, with her palms facing up. Focusing her Katsuryoku, Ashley begins moving her arms, causing strong winds to begin swirling around them.

Reopening her eyes, Ashley takes a step forwards and jabs both hands towards the burning cloud of ash, releasing the whirlwinds.

Kiba and Hinata, their hair and clothes blowing around due to the strong winds, watch as the flames are blown high into the sky. They grow larger as they rise, only to eventually fizzle out high above the small group.

Dropping her arms, Ashley releases a ragged breath, hanging her head and allowing her shoulders to droop.

Hinata's face turns a little blue at the sight before her, causing the girl to turn her head away. Before them, numerous charred and still burning bodies lie strewn across the ground, some burned so badly that their skin has become nothing more than ash, now blowing away in the wind.

Kiba wrinkles his nose at the scent of the burning bodies, only for something up ahead to catch his eye.

"Shit!" Kiba barks, eyes narrowing as a swarm of enemy Ninja leap over the building that Akamaru had crashed into. It seemed that somehow, more reinforcements were still arriving.

"Kiba-kun, there's too many for you-"

"I don't care!" Kiba growls, interrupting Hinata. "He's my best friend! I'm not gonna leave him over there!"

As Kiba moves to run, Ashley reaches out and grabs hold of his sleeve, scowling at the incoming reinforcements in thought.

"Let me go" Kiba demands, turning to Ashley with a desperate look in his eyes.

"I'll help you" the blonde replies, surprising Kiba.

"What?"

"I might not be as good at this as you and Akamaru" Ashley admits, though she looks into Kiba's eyes with determination, "But if we can pull off a Fang Over Fang, we'll be able to get through them."

Kiba stares at Ashley, before his eyes grow round and they begin to sparkle. Despite his worry for Akamaru, excitement begins to grow in Kiba's chest, his heart beating loudly.

"You wanna do the Fang Over Fang with me?" he repeats enthusiastically.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Ashley holds Kiba's excited gaze with an even one and nods her head.

"Alright!" Kiba grins, bending his knees and holding his right hand out to Ashley. "Let's do this Angel!"

Swallowing a nervous lump in her throat, Ashley copies Kiba's stance and, focusing her now hooded eyes on the incoming soldiers, takes the Inuzuka's hand.

The two young Ninja focus chakra into their feet, allowing it to build up to a point where they will be able to release it in an explosive burst.

"Fang Over Fang!" Kiba and Ashley both shout, launching themselves away from the ground and rocketing straight towards the advancing reinforcements.

They spin around each other at high velocity, drilling through the air, before reaching their target within a mere second.

Unable to see due to spinning around at such high speed, Ashley struggles to hold onto Kiba's hand and maintain her release of chakra. Kiba grips her hand tightly, focused only on blasting through the enemy line to get to Akamaru.

Hinata watches in awe as soldiers are blown in all directions, crying out in pain, with only a small number able to dodge away before they are hit.

Crashing through a mud wall that had been created by an enemy, Ashley finds that she is no longer able to maintain the spin and purposefully releases Kiba's hand, which causes her to go tumbling through the air away from him.

Kiba immediately ceases his spin and lands on top of the building that Akamaru had crashed into. He glances around, concerned for Ashley, only to see her sprawled out on the ground to his left. He sees her chest rising and falling rapidly, only to jump to his feet as he notices that some of the reinforcements have turned around and are attacking.

"Dammit..." Kiba growls, placing his hands together, only for a shout from Ashley to catch his attention.

"Just look for Akamaru!" the girl commands, shakily climbing to her feet, before she charges forwards. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Placing a hand in front of her mouth, Ashley exhales a powerful stream of wind, only to then slash both arms down towards the ground.

Using her Katsuryoku and the wind that her Jutsu had created, Ashley flings herself high up into the air. She brings her arms back in close to her chest, seeing a barrage of shuriken and kunai come straight at her.

Throwing her arms back out to her sides, Ashley begins to spin rapidly in mid air, dragging the chakra fuelled wind from her Jutsu along with her. The shuriken and kunai are all sucked into the whirling barrier, following Ashley's movements, before they are abruptly flung in all directions as she dispels the wind.

Now falling back toward the earth, Ashley is hit with a bolt of lightning, something that causes the girl's body to jolt. White hot fire seems to travel through every nerve in her body, leaving her skin feeling as though it is being pricked by a thousand needles. Her body stiff and tense due to the jolt, Ashley is unable to catch herself before she slams down into the ground. With her vision blurred and her head spinning, Ashley finds that she is unable to move, her body feeling as if it is too heavy to rise.

"Angel!" Kiba exclaims, horrified.

He had been searching through the rubble of the building to find Akamaru as fast as he could, and upon spotting the small Ninken unconscious amongst the crumbled stone, he had also seen Ashley get hit.

"C'mon boy....." Kiba murmurs, brushing some tiny stones away from Akamaru's fur and gently lifting the small dog into his arms.

He quickly bounds out of the building and runs over to Ashley, stepping in front of the girl to separate her from the enemy.

"Don't touch her" Kiba warns, causing one of the men to laugh cruelly.

"Heh" he smirks, a spark of electricity dancing across his hand. "And just what do you hope to do? Lightning Release: Thunder!"

Kiba squeezes his eyes closed as a bolt of lightning is released from the man's hand, only for an electrified Wolf to come streaking towards him.

Releasing as much lightning chakra as she can, Rei's body glows a bright blue, sparks of electricity charging across her fur. She slides in front of Kiba, just as the lightning bolt is about to strike him, absorbing the attack herself.

The enemy soldiers all look to Rei in surprise, before the Wolf tenses her body, releasing it of all of its pent up chakra. Bolts of lightning explode away from Rei, zapping the enemy soldiers and causing them to cry out in pain.

The man that had attacked Ashley and Kiba doesn't flinch however, only looking concerned as his allies drop to the ground, their bodies limp.

The glow fading from her body, Rei releases a tired sigh and slumps to the ground, exhausted.

"Hey, are you-"

"Milady!" a voice calls, cutting Kiba off.

Ace races over, stooping over Ashley and urgently nudging at her cheek. The girl's eyes slowly open and she raises a weak hand to try and playfully swat the Wolf away.

"Ah Milady....." Ace trails off, pain evident in his voice. "I am so sorry I let you get hurt. I never should have left you to help Keilor and Mistress Kiyumi...."

"I a-asked you to" Ashley stutters, struggling to talk, "You i-idiot...."

"All the same...." Ace trails off, only to hurriedly trot over to Rei and rest his forehead on her shoulder. "Thank you, my love. For protecting Milady."

"It was nothing dear" Rei replies happily, though Ace can see that she is weak. Lifting his head, he watches as Kiba kneels down beside Ashley, still cradling Akamaru in one hand.

"Hey, can you sit up?" Kiba asks gently, using his free hand to slowly help Ashley into a sitting position. ".....Are you alright?"

Her body trembling, Ashley exhales a long breath, before nodding her head.

"I feel l-like I'm already half d-dead" she states, voice trembling.

"I was terrified when I saw you get hit Milady" Ace admits, his brow creasing uncharacteristically. "I am ashamed that I was not faster."

"Lucky she's so fast" Kiba comments, nodding towards Rei.

"My speed was only amplified due to my build up of chakra" Rei says humbly, shaking her head. "I'm not always that fast."

"....You're all way too happy to kill us" a male voice utters, causing everyone to look over.

They see the man that had attacked Ashley glaring down at them, though his eyes seem to be wavering.

"You guys attacked us first!" Kiba argues, jumping to his feet. "None of us wanted this to happen!"

"Your leader sowed the seeds of death" Ace seethes, rising to his full height and stepping forwards, his fangs bared. "You are all now reaping the benefits of it."

"You think we want this?!" the man counters, sweeping his arm towards the ongoing battle. "Lord Sirius promised us all a new start if we left the Village in the Clouds with him!"

"It's your own fault for believing in a fool" Ace spits back, his fur suddenly lighting on fire. "You have attacked the one most precious to me, and now you will pay."

"I can't die!" the man cries out, eyes widening as Ace charges towards him. "I have a family! If I don't fight, they'll be the ones who suffer!"

"Ace!" Ashley manages to call out, halting the Wolf just as he is about to collide with the man.

His ears folded back and his teeth bared in an open mouth growl, Ace glares into the eyes of the soldier before him with fury, reluctantly remaining still to see what his beloved partner wants from him.

Kiba adjusts his position, resting one knee down on the ground so that Ashley can lean back against it, making it easier for her to sit up.

"......I knew it" the blonde mutters, sighing and running a hand down her face.

"The Leaf didn't want to kill you guys" Kiba informs their enemy. "But you kind of gave us no choice except to fight."

"Most of these men don't want to fight you, or the Minami" the man replies, suddenly sounding very tired. "However, all of our families are in danger if we don't listen to Lord Sirius....."

"So what if we kill him?" Kiba asks, to which the man laughs defeatedly.

"That will never happen."

"But what if we can?" Kiba reiterates, causing the man to raise his head.

"......" the man stares at Kiba silently for a few moments, before turning to look back at the fighting still going on.

As Ninja clash, fists connecting, weapons flying and Jutsu blasting through the air, plumes of smoke curl and billow into the sky. Flames burn on roof tops, as buildings crumble and people scream out in pain.

"....We'd be able to live in freedom" the soldier eventually replies, sounding wistful. He pauses again, giving Ashley a side-long glance. ".....We all know that the Minami have done nothing wrong. Lord Sirius blames them for the deaths of his men to avoid taking any blame himself. We're all just too afraid to oppose his words."

Ashley's face slowly falls into a frown at this.

"Tch" Kiba scoffs. "What a scumbag."

"....Wh-Where is he?" Ashley inquires. "Why i-isn't he fighting?"

"Lord Sirius is waiting for us to thin the herd" the soldier explains solemnly. "Rest assured, he will arrive on the battlefield and he will kill all of you."

"He will receive no such chance, I assure you" Ace sneers, the flames on his body dying out as he turns around and stalks back towards Rei, Ashley and Kiba. "Milady, let us go and get you healed."

"I saw Fang not long ago" Rei says, climbing to her feet. She sees the soldier eyeing them all warily and, though remaining protectively in front of Kiba and Ashley, offers the man a smile. "We do not wish to harm you dear."

"Speak for yourself..." Ace growls under his breath, before turning to Ashley. "Climb onto my back Milady. I will carry you."

Ashley stares at the enemy Ninja for a few moments, the man seeming too perplexed to know what to do with himself, before she sweat drops.

"....I can't move" she advises her friends. To be honest, Ashley could barely even feel her legs. Aside from the painful tingling that had been going on since she had been electrocuted, Ashley hadn't felt anything but numb.

"Here, take Akamaru" Kiba instructs softly, carefully placing the pup in Ashley's arms, before bending down and scooping Ashley up into his.

The Inuzuka then gently places Ashley on Ace's back, the Wolf crouching down slightly to assist.

"Can you sit on your own?" Kiba wonders, seeing that Ashley is a little wobbly.

The blonde merely stares back at him, before a tiny smile breaks out onto her face.

She then raises her eyes to the enemy soldier, the smile disappearing.

"Wh-What's your name?" she demands to know, her question surprising the man.

"......Arashi."

"Come with us" Ashley orders, much to the shock of everyone.

"What?" Arashi asks, eyes wide. "Why? So you can all kill me together?"

"No" Ashley sighs, irritated by his stupid question. "W-Will your friends get th-the picture if they s-see you with us?"

"Some may stop fighting" the man reasons, more with himself than anything. "But Lord Sirius is bound to see as well...."

"H-He'll be dead before the n-night ends" Ashley promises the man. "Let's g-go Ace."

Without so much as one more look at Arashi, Ace breaks into a run, wanting to get his partner healed as soon as possible. Whether Fang had the chakra or not, Ace would drag her kicking and screaming to heal Ashley if he had to.

"Stick close to me dear" Rei tells Kiba, as they quickly follow after Ace and Ashley. "I'll protect you."

"Aren't you runnin out of steam too?" the Inuzuka asks, though he appreciates the sentiment.

"I'll gladly run out of steam for those who are willing to step between Milady and an enemy" Rei giggles, a teasing look in her eyes.

Ashley's POV

I look down at Shimei through hooded eyes, seeing blood pouring from a gaping wound in his side. He clenches his teeth together in pain, something that causes more blood to leak from his mouth.

Kurai bawls loudly, tears streaming down her face, as she shakily strokes Shimei's hair, the boy's head in her lap. Fang hurriedly places her paws down on the older boy's side, the symbols on her forelegs glowing a bright blue as she focuses her chakra and begins healing him.

"It's gonna be alright Kurai" Saffire assures the pink haired girl, blood seeping between her fingers as she tries to apply pressure to Shimei's wound. "It's gonna be- Hey!"

Saffire's head snaps up when she sees Ace and I looming over her, the girl's eyes widening upon seeing me.

Judging by her expression, I must look pretty terrible.

"You too Ashley?!" she exclaims, though she doesn't move from her place assisting Fang.

I shrug one shoulder, being careful not to move Akamaru too much. Poor little guy looks like he got hurt pretty badly. I'd rather he get taken care of before me.

"What happened to him?" Rei asks, dismayed by the sight of such a terrible injury.

"Sh-Shimei w-was t-trying t-to-"

"You know how a bunch of buildings are on fire?" Saffire interrupts, seeing that Kurai is barely able to talk while sobbing. "Well, Shimei was putting one of those fires out and both he and Kurai were trying to rescue some kids that were trapped."

"Shimei was run through with a sword" Fang mutters, staring down at the wound without blinking. "While he was pulling a child out of the building."

I can't help scowling at that. Here Kurai and Shimei were, saving the children of our enemies from the dangers of fire or their home collapsing, and they want to attack while my friend's backs are turned?

"There's no way any of the men would attack if he was saving one of the children" Arashi denies, stepping amongst the group and causing all of them to freeze.

"Argh what the hell?!" Saffire cries, immediately lifting her arms, ice forming in the air around her hands.

"Relax!" I manage to call out, my throat feeling dry and scratched. "H-He came with us....."

Tamashi, standing protectively beside Kurai, allows his scythe to disappear back into thin air, having summoned it as soon as Arashi had appeared.

"Why did you guys bring an enemy with you?" Saffire asks accusingly, though she is glaring daggers at Arashi.

The man sighs and crosses his arms over his chest, an indignance about him that really doesn't make sense. I mean, from anyone else's perspective, he really is an enemy.

"This guy seems to think that none of those soldiers wanna fight us" Kiba supplies, though he doesn't sound at all convinced. "We're hoping that if the other soldiers see him with us, they'll stop fighting too."

"That doesn't make any sense" Saffire says flatly, not believing a word.

"Lord Sirius controls us with fear" Arashi explains hurriedly, still uncertain as to whether he is doing the right thing or not. "If we don't do as he says, he tortures us and kills our families. The men are only trying to keep their families safe."

"By destroying ours" Saffire points out, to which Arashi bows his head slightly.

"I imagine you would do the same if you were in our situation" the man mutters.

An anime vein appears on the side of Saffire's head, but as she opens her mouth to retort, she finds that she has nothing to say.

He was right after all.

A silence falls over our small group, though it is hardly quiet, due to the ongoing fighting, when a head pops around the corner of the stone wall shielding us from the battle.

"Excuse me everyone" Arelle interrupts politely. "Chief Dashi wanted me to inform you all that Sirius has been spotted out on the battlefield."

"But Shimei is still injured!" Kurai cries out, looking down at the red head. "He won't be able to fight...."

"At this point, I don't think it matters who kills the guy" Kiba comments, arms folded over his chest. "Someone, literally anyone, just needs to get rid of him."

Upon hearing that Sirius is out there, I begin to feel restless. I lean back a little, trying to see around the wall of rock, though all I manage to do is almost slip right off of Ace's back.

"Do not even think of fighting Milady" Ace warns me seriously. "I will not allow it while you are in this state. You need to be healed first."

"Fang is busy" I reply stubbornly. "I w-want to see if m-my team is alright...."

"No" Ace reiterates, his tone harsh.

"W-Well" I complain, "A-At least bring S-Sakura here. I'll heal m-myself, b-but I need chakra."

"Shall I go and find her for you Milady?" Rei offers, to which Kiba shakes his head.

"You need to rest too" the Inuzuka informs my Wolf, a gesture that she seems to appreciate, if her glowing smile is anything to go by. "I'll find her for you Angel. And I'll see how your team are too. Look after Akamaru for me."

"W-Wait, don't...." I trail off, seeing that Kiba has already turned and run away.

My brows crease with worry as he disappears from view, and I find myself holding onto Akamaru a little bit tighter than I was before.

Kiba is clearly injured and tired as well. I don't want him running out there to help me out. It's not like he's faring any better than me.

"I'll go after him" Arashi suddenly offers. "If I want to encourage the other men to look to you as our allies, then I actually need to be seen by them."

I hear Ace release a very quiet sigh of relief beneath me, knowing that I won't be running off anywhere and risking my life for awhile yet.

"Is the Chief the one who created this wall?" Rei asks, glancing up at it curiously, as she lies down.

"Yep" Saffire confirms. "He's defending it too. He's on the other side of it, taking out anyone who gets close."

"The Chief is the one who saved Shimei too" Kurai says softly, her eyes still filled with tears, though they've stopped falling by now.

"I-It's alright Kurai" Fang assures the girl, her breath beginning to grow heavier. "It's taking a lot of my chakra, but Shimei will be alright."

"I know" Kurai smiles sadly. "I just hate to see such a kind person suffer like this...."

"You love him" Saffire says with a shrug. "We get it. It's hard to see your loved one like that."

I stare down at Shimei, as the other girls continue to talk, feeling somewhat sleepy. I really need to replenish my chakra....

"Ashley!" a voice calls out to me, catching my attention. I turn my head, only to see Sakura running towards me, her green eyes wide with worry.

She stops beside me and places her hands on my leg, looking on the verge of tears. Whether that's because she's relieved to see me or because I look so awful, I'm really not sure.

Unable to stop myself from smiling with relief at the sight of her, I reach out and place one hand on top of Sakura's head.

"I'm glad you're alright Sakura" I say quietly, before my eyes flick up to Kiba.

He stands with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. I spy what seems to be a fresh slash wound on the side of his face, something that causes my eyes to narrow slightly.

Kiba lifts his head, only to notice me staring. He quickly turns on a cheeky grin and gives me a thumbs up, a gesture that stupidly seems to reassure me for some reason.

"Kiba said you needed me urgently" Sakura prompts, clearly wanting to me to hurry up and tell her what's wrong.

"Right" I confirm. "Can you s-spare any chakra right n-now?"

"Chakra?" Sakura repeats, blinking a few times. "I mean, sure. But why?"

"I don't h-have much left" I explain, bracing myself for what Ace is about to say. "If I have s-some chakra, I can h-help heal Shimei and A-Akamaru."

Kiba's eyes widen at his, as Ace's ears prick up and I feel his body tense.

"What?!" my Guardian snarls. "Milady, please do not be so stupid! You need to heal yourself first!"

"Help me down Sakura" I request, ignoring Ace's vehement disapproval.

"I'll take Akamaru back" Kiba offers, reaching out for the small pup. Nodding, I carefully lower Akamaru down into Kiba's hands, the brunette smiling to himself as he hugs his best friend close.

Reaching out and placing my hands on Sakura's shoulders, I slide down from Ace's back, only for my legs to immediately give out underneath me.

"Ashley!" Sakura gasps, grabbing the sides of my arms and catching me before I collapse.

"I'm fine" I say, sweat dropping as Sakura slowly lowers me to the ground.

"You're clearly hurt" Sakura points out, kneeling in front of me and inspecting my face and body. "You should heal yourself."

"Yes" I confirm, waving one hand dismissively. "But I n-need chakra first."

I raise my eyes to look at Sakura, inspecting her as thoroughly as she had inspected me, only to frown slightly.

While she seems energetic, I can see that Sakura is tired too. She has cuts and scrapes all over her arms, legs and face, as well as burn marks and slashes in her clothes.

"How do I help?" Sakura asks, determined to assist me.

"....Only g-give me a little bit" I say firmly, giving Sakura a stern look. "Y-You need your chakra too."

"Yeah yeah" Sakura mutters, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry about that. What do I need to do?"

"S-Sit behind me and put your p-palms against my back" I instruct, closing my eyes and bowing my head a little as Sakura shuffles into position. "Focus your chakra i-into your hands a-and imagine that you're pushing i-it into me."

"...Gimme a second" Sakura murmurs, clearly focusing as she presses her hands against my back.

I remain silent as my teammate concentrates, having full faith that she'll be able to do this. I doubt I could rely on any of the other Genin to abruptly learnt to share their chakra with me, especially under the pressure of a huge battle like this. I'm totally certain that Sakura will be able to do it though, seeing as she has such good chakra control.

She's also good as using it sparingly, rather than pouring huge amounts into her attacks like I do, so I figured she'd still have a pretty decent chakra supply.

I straighten up slightly, when I suddenly begin to feel a comforting warmth radiating through my body, starting from my back. I immediately notice my drowsiness beginning to dissipate, as Sakura's chakra flows into my own chakra network, reenergizing me.

"Is it working Ashley-chan?" Sakura asks tightly. "This is hard...."

"You're doing great Sakura" I say, smiling to myself. "I knew you would."

"Hey, you sound better already" Kiba points out, watching us with curiosity.

"I feel better already" I confirm, opening my eyes. "Watch and learn Mutt. Team Seven is the most talented of the lot."

Despite her concentration, Sakura giggles at my statement, while Kiba merely deadpans at me.

"Yeah, she's feeling better alright" he mutters disdainfully, though I'm sure I can see a hint of amusement in his expression. He pauses however, as I hold my arms up to him.

"Pass Akamaru to me" I request. "Sakura, if you're able to, please keep lending me your chakra."

"Okay" the pinkette agrees. "Don't worry, I can keep going."

Kiba hands Akamaru to me again, after which I carefully place the Ninken in my lap and put my hands on his back. As green chakra lights up around my hands, I catch Ace watching on with a highly displeased look on his face, though he chooses to say nothing. I know he's just worried about me, but I can hardly sit here and heal myself when the others are worse off.

After a minute or two, I hear Sakura's breathing starting grow a little heavy.

"Sakura" I address. "You can stop now."

"No no, I'm oka-"

"You've done enough" I say softly, glancing back over my shoulder and smiling. "Thank you for helping me."

Sakura blinks a few times, before lowering her hands from my back and reaching up to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"Are you really okay?" she asks, now leaning back on her hands to rest. "I don't feel like I did much."

"You've given me enough chakra to heal Akamaru and Shimei" I assure her, looking back down as I feel Akamaru wriggle. "That's all I wanted."

Akamaru lifts his head and stares at me, seemingly confused, as the green glow disappears from my hands. After a few seconds, Akamaru seems to realise what is going on, and his tail starts to wag.

"Arf arf!" the puppy barks thankfully, jumping up and trying to lick my face. "Arf!"

"You're welcome Akamaru" I say, holding my laugh in, as I reach down and pat him. "But I think Kiba was worried about you."

"Arf?" Akamaru asks, tilting his head. Looking to the side, Akamaru spots Kiba and immediately leaps out of my lap, tail wagging furiously.

Kiba grins as Akamaru launches himself forwards, the brunette catching him easily. Akamaru wriggles with excitement in Kiba's grip, trying to lick the boy's face as he barks.

"I'm glad you're alright buddy" Kiba laughs, closing one eye as Akamaru climbs up his shoulder and perches proudly on his head. ".....Thanks Angel. We owe you one."

"You owe me about twenty at this point" I tease, folding my arms over my chest, only to pause.

Thinking back to the time when Kiba was kind to me after my argument with Naruto, and the countless times he has been supportive of me, I don't think I can actually say that we're not even. Not to mention when he came after me in that rainstorm...

"W-Well, maybe not twenty" I back track awkwardly, placing my palms together and scowling in embarrassment at my train of thought.

"Milady, please" Ace begins to beg, only for me to hold up one glowing hand.

"I'm gonna heal myself now Ace" I inform the Wolf, to which he heaves a sigh of relief. "But only enough so that I can walk over to Shimei and help Fang."

"Milady, why are you so stubborn?" Ace sighs heavily, his momentary relief now gone again.

"You were always like that" Saffire points out, poking her tongue out at me as she wipes a bloodied hand on her pants. "You'd always make sure everyone else was alright first. And whenever we got into trouble, you'd always try and take the blame."

"Not that anyone believed you were not involved Mistress Saffire" Ace reminds the Minami, to which she laughs nervously.

"Ley-chan was always very good at taking care of others" Kurai adds quietly, smiling despite her tear-filled eyes. She looks down at Shimei again, her lower lip quivering. "Especially Kiyu-chan..."

"She does this with us all the time too" Sakura feels the need to add. "She's always getting hurt to help us. It's a bad habit you know?"

"Everyone shut up" I complain, feeling embarrassed. I focus my eyes on my legs, trying to ignore my friend's nostalgic teasing by healing them enough that I'll at least be able to walk.

We all glance up as Arashi suddenly arrives back in our midst, huffing and puffing as if he had just run a great distance.

"Where have you been?" Kiba demands to know, earning himself an annoyed look.

"I've been talking with some of the other soldiers" Arashi explains, struggling to catch his breath. "I knew one of our men wouldn't have attacked you guys when you were saving children. I've discovered that Lord Sirius is using his Kekkei Genkai to control as many of the men as possible!"

"What?!"

"That bastard!"

"Oh dear....."

"Dammit..." Kiba growls. "I'm going back out there! I'm not leaving Hinata and Shino to fight on their own!"

"M-Me too!" Sakura announces, quickly climbing to her feet. "If you don't need me anymore Ashley, I'm going back out there too!"

I look up at Kiba and Sakura, my eyes flicking between the two, before I nod and turn to look back at what I'm doing.

"Both of you" I say quietly, trying not to sound pleading. ".....Please be careful."