Ch. 8 Red

Red.

The whole world was red. Everywhere he looked, everything, red. The sky was red. The trees were red. His enemies were red…

Not red enough, Naruto decided, not nearly red enough.

He bounded over the rocks, in the direction that the smell was coming from, and darted forward. It felt right to run on all fours for some reason, his hands (claws?) digging into the dirt, giving him even more speed and traction. He entered the clearing, and there they were before him. The hateful ones. The ones who hurt her. The ones who made her red.

It was their turn...they needed to be red too.

The two turned to face Naruto immediately as he entered the clearing, hands swiftly drawing their weapons, but Naruto wasn't worried. Letting out a howl from deep in his throat, he bolted forward, toward the first of the two.

The enemy brought his weapon to bear, slashing his sword blade down to meet Naruto. Sweeping his hand up, Naruto moved to swat the weapon aside. The steel blade shattered like glass as Naruto's hand met it, the shards going flying and leaving the man holding little more than the hilt. An instant later Naruto's other hand swept the rest away, sending the remains of the weapon flying in the other direction, along with the man's arm up to the elbow. Before the enemy could do anything more than look at his missing weapon and the stump of his arm with shocked confusion, Naruto lashed out with a kick at the man's knees, snapping his legs like twigs. The man fell to the ground, and suddenly he was on Naruto's level, every part of him within easy reach.

Naruto slashed out with a clawed hand at the man's neck, causing his throat to explode with red. On some level, Naruto knew that this was likely enough, but he didn't feel like stopping. He struck his enemy a few more times for good measure, hands cutting deep gouges in the man's torso with every swipe. Each splash of red that he painted across the body sent a slight thrill of pleasant sensation running through the back of Naruto's mind. Not enough to assuage his fury, of course, but enough to make him know that he wanted more.

Finished with the first, Naruto turned to the other, to find that he was already leaving the clearing, dashing away through the trees. As his enemy vanished into the foliage, a new sound made its way to Naruto's ears.

Laughter.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. His fists clenched again, his whole body shuddering with hate. He was laughing! Laughing! The one who hurt her was laughing at him...at her! Laughing at her pain.

Naruto crouched down, his legs coiling like springs, hands digging into the ground as he prepared to leap. All at once he sprung, jetting into the trees in pursuit of his foe, laughter ringing in his ears as he ran through the darkened forest.

It didn't take him long to catch up to his prey. The man was running as fast as he could, but he couldn't match up to Naruto's speed. As he caught sight of his foe, the man was preparing to launch himself up into the trees, likely planning to leap from tree branch to tree branch in order to move through the forest quickly. Naruto put a stop to that plan immediately. As his enemy leapt up into the air, Naruto jumped after him, slashing at the back of the man's knees. Still in motion, the man soared up into the air, smacking against the tree branch instead of landing on it, before falling back to earth. He landed heavily on the ground, tumbling several meters until he crashed into a tree trunk and finally came to a halt.

Naruto slowly stalked toward the downed man. Even now, even after everything, the laughter still rang through the clearing. Naruto ground his teeth in rage. He would give the man something to laugh about.

As Naruto approached, the man slowly pulled himself up into a seated position, his back resting against the trunk. His legs were bloody and bent awkwardly beneath him. It was clear he wouldn't be going anywhere. When Naruto stopped a few feet away, the man raised his head to look up at him, and Naruto finally got to look his opponent in the eye.

Naruto frowned. Something was wrong. The man's face was a rictus of fear. His eyes shone with terror and desperation. His mouth was moving, appearing to say something, but Naruto couldn't hear his words. Or rather, Naruto thought he heard a faint buzzing in time with the man's mouth movements, but it was distant and muffled, as though being spoken through water. Most importantly, though, the man was clearly not laughing. Neither his mouth movements nor his expression matched with the uproarious laughter that still echoed through Naruto's mind. But then, where was it coming from? Who was it that was laughing at this situation?

Naruto stopped short.

It's me, he realized, suddenly, I'm...the one who's laughing. But...why? Why am I laughing?

As Naruto stopped to try to think, his mindless rage slowly vanished, leaving only confusion and exhaustion in its wake. As Naruto calmed down, his senses returned as well. The redness faded from his vision, the world around him returning to its natural hues. Also, the roaring sound in his ears, that he had only just now noticed, faded too, allowing him to once again hear everything that had previously been drowned out.

"...Please...I'm sorry! It wasn't me, I swear!" a panicked voice pleaded.

Naruto looked down, suddenly remembering the crippled shinobi at his feet.

"What?"

"I...I-It...It wasn't me, it was Nishita! He's the one who hit your teammate, I was just throwing weapons around you to try to scare you off! I...I-I'm sorry, I didn't have a choice. Nishita was in charge...I wouldn't have done it if not for that...I swear...p-please…" the man begged pitifully for his life, his expression desperate and terrified.

Naruto stared down at the rogue ninja, saying nothing, but quietly regarding him for a moment.

He hated him...he knew that for sure. Even now, he wanted nothing more than to finish the man off. But, even as he glared down at him, Naruto realized that he couldn't. His overall pathetic demeanor and pleading aside, the fact was he was no longer a threat. The man's ruined legs meant he wasn't going anywhere under his own power anytime soon. What's more, it certainly appeared as though all the fight had gone out of him. Even though a part him still wanted revenge, another part of Naruto realized on some level that killing someone in this situation, in cold blood and completely defenseless, would be crossing a line he could never come back from.

Naruto shook his head slowly, still trying to clear his slightly muddled thoughts. "Shut up," he said to the man, speaking slowly, "shut up...I'm not going to kill you."

The wounded shinobi's face lit up, hopefully. "I...thank you! Thank you! You won't regret this, I promise!" he said, making an awkward bow from his seated position.

Naruto shook his head again, as though putting the whole situation behind him. "Whatever…" he said, beginning to turn away from the man. He had wasted enough time on the situation as it was, he needed to get back to something…

As Naruto was turning to move away from the man, he noticed something just on the edges of his peripheral vision. The rogue ninja's hand had slipped behind his back, using his bowing pose to reach for something behind him. Naruto wasn't sure how he had noticed, it wasn't usually like him to be so perceptive. Perhaps it was because he was amped up on adrenaline, or maybe some part of whatever had just been affecting him was still not through running its course. Either way, as he showed his back to the man and began walking away, Naruto focussed all his senses behind him. There he heard it, the sounds of someone discreetly sifting through a weapons pouch. Apparently, the man had noticed the change in Naruto's demeanor, and decided to try his luck, assuming that Naruto was vulnerable now.

Naruto continued to walk away, slowly, not turning around. His enhanced senses caught everything. The soft sound of steel against leather as the man pulled a weapon free. The slight shifting as he gave himself room to throw. The whistling sound of a kunai cutting through empty air.

Ordinarily from this distance, an attack would've been difficult to dodge, even if one knew it was coming. Despite this, in the next instant, Naruto did several things consecutively that he didn't know he was capable of. Bending casually to the side, Naruto allowed the kunai to fly right past him. Then, even as it was moving away, he reached up and snatched the kunai by the hilt out of mid-air, spinning it in his fingers into a throwing position. In a single smooth motion, he spun back around and flicked the kunai right back from where it came.

The other shinobi didn't have even a second to react. In the very next instant, the kunai buried itself up to the hilt in his right eye.

The enemy ninja didn't react. Didn't move or change his expression at all. He simply slumped and fell over on his side, his remaining eye still staring sightlessly forward.

Naruto stood there for a long moment, once more staring at the enemy shinobi. He was dead, that much was clear. His remaining eye was empty, completely void of any expression or awareness. A moment ago there had been a human being right there...and now, he was gone. Just like that. He was dead and Naruto felt...nothing. Not sorrow or guilt. Not victory or vindication. Just nothing.

Why? Why had the man attacked him when the battle was over? For that matter, why was any of this happening? All this fear and pain...why were these people so determined to cause harm to people who had never done anything to them? The caravaners attacked...the Greens Country shinobi forced to flee for their lives...Hinata hurt…

...Hinata…

Shifting all other thoughts aside, Naruto turned around and ran back the way he had come. He could worry about anything else later. For now, he had to get back to help his friend.

"Y-Yurinojou…" Haruna said, distress creeping into her voice, "Perhaps we should slow down a little…"

"We...we cannot do that, Lady Haruna," Yurinojou replied with obvious effort. Gamely he attempted to trudge on as best he could. "In this situation, it's especially critical that we keep moving forward as fast as we are able."

"But…" Haruna glanced down at Yurinojou's body. He was bleeding freely from a half dozen wounds ranging all over his body, including a particularly nasty gash across the side of his head which was bleeding so profusely that the blood had spilled all the way down the side of his head and neck and was currently soaking into the collar of his shirt. "At least we can take a moment to see to your injuries…"

Yurinojou shook his head. "Don't concern yourself with me, Haruna-sama. I can bear injuries like these easily enough. Besides, your life is far more important than mine. So long as you are safe, it doesn't matter whether I live or die."

Haruna cringed. She had said similar enough things herself recently, but for some reason, hearing Yurinojou say them back to her just felt wrong.

As it was, he had shown little enough concern for his own life in his fight only a short time ago. The two Janin henchmen shinobi had happened upon them as they were attempting to reach the other end of the ravine they were now in. Haruna had at first believed that she was finally, truly doomed. Somewhat to her surprise, however, Yurinojou had managed to hold off both enemies at once, even while protecting her, though he had received a few wounds for his trouble. At one point, she had fallen and cut herself on a sharp rock, prompting one of the enemies to throw up a kunai-attached explosive tag and detonate it straight up in the sky. After this, Yurinojou had surprised her again by suddenly launching a fierce offensive. Soon after, she had thought that he might go down as the two rogue ninjas delivered vicious injuries to him from both directions, including the wound on his head, but this had proved to be only a trap on his part to lure them both in close. A moment later both enemies had been torn to shreds as Yurinojou activated the Dance of a Thousand Petals jutsu.

Haruna glanced at Yurinojou out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't realized that he even knew the Dance of a Thousand Petals jutsu. It was considered to be one of the most advanced jutsus available to the shinobi of the Land of Greens. There were few who were able to use it, and she knew of none other than Kikunojou who were able to utilize it at such a young age. Thinking back, she suddenly recalled several times over the past few months witnessing Yurinojou returning home late, covered in small cuts and bruises. When asked he would only say that he had been hard at training. Clearly, he had been pushing himself to learn a more advanced jutsu than he was truly ready for.

Haruna didn't have to ask why he would do such a thing, she already knew well enough. Because of Kikunojou. Kikunojou had been born a year ahead of them, and what's more was considered a genius. Yurinojou was skilled, but had never possessed the raw natural talent of his friend, and so had had to push himself harder than anyone else to try to keep up. From the time they had been little that was how it had always gone. Kikunojou always surged ahead, and Yurinojou would beat himself black and blue trying to surpass his friend and rival.

When they had been young, Haruna had always relied on Kikunojou. But in her heart, she had always been cheering for Yurinojou...who always put his all into everything he did…

Haruna shook her head to clear away any extraneous thoughts. She hadn't thought about all that in a long time. She tried to forget everything else and refocus on her objectives, but found it increasingly difficult to do so. Much as she hated to admit it, something within her had begun to change. Whether it was the events of the past few days, the desperate situation they were now in, the words and actions of her foreign and domestic shinobi guardians, or maybe even the antics of that annoying brat Naruto, the carefully maintained walls she had put up between herself and everyone else had begun to fray.

Before she could think too much more on this, she suddenly heard Yurinojou whisper harshly to her, "Haruna-sama...get behind me!"

Caught off guard as Yurinojou spun around and swiftly drew his weapon, she asked fearfully, "What? What is it? Have they caught us again?"

Yurinojou didn't reply immediately, instead staring off into the darkness behind them. All at once he lowered his weapon marginally, raised a hand up next to his mouth and made a bird call. There was an instant of tense silence before suddenly a responding bird call came back to them.

Yurinojou lowered his weapon, relief painting his features, "They're back."

Asuma Sarutobi ran through the forest for all he was worth. Behind him, Chouji and Kikunojou struggled to keep up, but didn't complain regardless. They both understood as well as he did. They needed to reunite with their comrades...and they needed it yesterday.

Ruiga had proved to be more of a problem than Asuma had hoped. This time around the Janin had fought defensively, keeping well out of Asuma's reach and letting his summons do most of the attacking. What's more, he had kept his tonfa carefully protected this time, preventing Asuma from crippling him the same way he had in their earlier fight. Altogether this prevented Asuma from finishing the fight quickly. Given enough time, there was little doubt that Asuma could eventually hammer down the man's defenses, but that wasn't the issue. The problem was that the Janin was just playing for time, and he knew it. Any time that he wasted fighting this man was precious minutes that his students couldn't afford to spare.

And so, Asuma had had to take desperate measures, and finally pulled out his ultimate jutsu.

Asuma had been a shinobi for more than a decade and a half. He had personally fought in the Third Great Shinobi War and countless other, smaller conflicts. Over that time he had developed and mastered numerous powerful jutsus. However, no technique he possessed was as powerful as the one he had received from his old friend, Chiriku, his comrade from when he had been a member of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve. After the collapse of the Guardians following Kazama's failed coup d'etat, Chiriku had returned to his home at the Fire Temple, while Asuma had been forced to go back to his father in the Leaf Village. Before going their separate ways, however, Chiriku, as a sign of their enduring friendship, had taught Asuma how to use the most powerful jutsu utilized by the ninja monks of the Fire Temple, the appropriately named Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder.

Even after several years, Asuma was still nowhere near as proficient with the technique as Chiriku had been. He could still only control about half of the one-thousand spirit fists the jutsu gave one access to, and it was also incredibly taxing on his chakra reserves, limiting the amount of time he could use it. Regardless, even with these limitations, it was still more than enough for an opponent like Ruiga.

As soon as Asuma had activated the jutsu, the first series of fists had lashed out, destroying the spheres of water and dispelling all of Ruiga's summons in a matter of seconds. Another series of strikes had battered down Ruiga's defences. A second later Ruiga had been smashed into the ground as hundreds upon hundreds of ethereal fists had pummelled him into the dirt.

The youngest Janin had gone down, and hadn't gotten back up.

Immediately upon finishing his fight, Asuma had returned to the team's campsite to retrieve the other two who had been part of the rearguard team. He had arrived to find Kikunojou attempting to comfort a clearly shell-shocked Chouji. At the time Kikunojou had been trying to get Chouji to drink some water, and the rotund boy had been mechanically obeying. A quick glance around the area, the pile of bodies nearby, the hollow look in Chouji's eyes and the small pool of vomit near where he sat, told Asuma all he needed to know about what had happened. He would need to do something about this in the near future, it was important that he help his student process his first kills and put things into the right context.

Unfortunately, now was simply not the right time for that. There were still enemies around and the danger had far from passed. He could have a talk with Chouji after this was over, for the time being, it was more important that he simply get him up and moving. Cold as it might seem, the first lesson Chouji would have to learn was to put his emotions aside and focus on the mission.

Asuma had wasted no time in getting the other two moving, stating that he wanted to find Naruto and Hinata as soon as possible. Kikunojou, casting a concerned eye toward Chouji, had looked like he might object for a moment, but fortunately, the mention of his two teammates had been enough to temporarily snap Chouji out of his haze, and he had gotten up and prepared to move again without complaint. The three then immediately set off in the direction Kikunojou claimed to have seen a flare go up in the sky a short time earlier.

The three ran through the darkened forest for a while, alert for more enemies but not encountering anyone else along the way. Eventually, they arrived at a rocky area crisscrossed with ravines, and it was here that they finally encountered others of their group.

After a brief exchange of bird call signals between Kikunojou and his counterpart, they leapt down into the ravine and found themselves standing before Yurinojou and the princess. Yurinojou looked as though he had been through the wringer. In addition to the nasty head wound he bore, there were quite a few spots of blood staining his clothing, some of it clearly his, other most likely not. The princess seemed mostly fine, aside from being a bit dirtier and more mussed up than before. As it was, Asuma could spare only so much concern for either of them, as he was far more alarmed by who wasn't present.

Unfortunately, before Asuma could say anything, Kikunojou spoke up first, "Your Highness! I'm glad to see you're okay. Yurinojou, are you alright? What happened?"

Yurinojou shook his head and replied, "I'm fine. Two of them caught up to us. I got a little cut up, but I managed to deal with them."

"Yurinojou performed his duty admirably, though he shouldn't have had to do so much," Haruna said, stepping forward and looking back and forth between Kikunojou and Asuma. "What exactly went wrong? What happened to the plan? I thought the rearguard was supposed to keep the enemy distracted, yet they caught up to us so quickly…"

Asuma shook his head, "No plan ever survives contact with the enemy, your ladyship. As it is, something unexpected occurred. Some outside force intervened to disrupt our plan…" Asuma thought back to the strange glass creature that had appeared briefly back at the camp. He had been keeping a careful lookout since then, but hadn't seen the creature reappear as of yet. "Almost as soon as the decoy was destroyed, the Janin somehow learned of your true location. I managed to finish off one of the Janin, and Kikunojou-san and Chouji…" he paused for a second, before carefully continuing, "...managed to stop most of the enemy, but unfortunately we weren't able to stop the other Janin from getting away, along with about four of his men."

Yurinojou nodded, "That lines up with what we heard from Naruto-kun. I was able to take out two more of them just now. That only leaves two more henchmen...along with the other Janin…"

"Speaking of which," Asuma went on, finally getting to his primary concern, "where are my other two students? Why aren't Hinata and Naruto with you?"

Yurinojou and Haruna shared a nervous glance for a moment, before the Greens Country ninja responded, "A little while after we got word from Naruto-kun about the enemy's pursuit, Hinata-san spotted someone coming up behind us. The two of them told us to keep moving, and stated an intention of slowing the enemy down. They both moved together, so they seemed to have some kind of plan. We...haven't seen them since then, though…"

Asuma closed his eyes. Breathing in deeply, he slowly exhaled, calming himself as much as he was able. At the very least, it sounded like the two of them hadn't been moving recklessly. "I see," he responded evenly. "Did you by any chance establish a location to meet back up before separating?"

Yurinojou nodded again, "There's a large tree in an open area just beyond the end of this ravine. We agreed to use that as a rendezvous point. We were just on our way there, now."

Asuma nodded, "Alright then. In that case, we'll head there now, see if they maybe got there ahead of us."

"But...but Sensei!" Chouji spoke up, sounding alarmed. "Shouldn't we…"

"No, Chouji," Asuma replied firmly, "we're not going to look for them right away. We don't know exactly where they are right now. The only thing we know for sure is that they may be heading for Yurinojou's rendezvous site. If we go wandering around in the dark looking for them, we could end up missing them entirely. What's more, the enemy is still out there, so we could also end up putting ourselves into a worse situation. Besides, we still need to keep the princess moving toward the border. We still have a mission to complete."

Chouji looked conflicted. He nodded his head in understanding, but he still looked upset. Taking pity on the young man, Asuma stated, "We're just going there to meet up with them. If they don't show up, I'll go look for them myself while the rest of you continue toward the border. We aren't leaving them behind."

On hearing this, Chouji calmed considerably. He was honestly looking better overall than he had a short time ago, the urgency of the situation likely having taken his mind off of things for the time being. His eyes hadn't completely lost the haunted look in them, though.

With that, the reunited party got moving again, walking down the length of the ravine toward the East. Eventually the ravine opened up, and the group found themselves in the place that Yurinojou had described, a mostly open rocky area with a single surprisingly large tree growing out of the rock.

Unfortunately, they arrived to find the clearing unoccupied. There was no sign of Naruto or Hinata, and no signs that anyone had been there recently. Fighting down a rising sense of trepidation, Asuma called a temporary halt, stating that they would remain only long enough to see to Yurinojou's injuries. He had thought that Haruna might object to even this small delay, but the young woman seemed surprisingly receptive to the idea.

A few minutes later Asuma and Kikunojou finished patching up the last of Yurinojou's wounds. The young man now had bandages covering his arms and torso, along with one wrapped tightly around his forehead. He seemed mostly okay, though Asuma could tell he was exhausted, and probably a little light-headed from blood loss. Head wounds, in particular, always bled a lot. Not for the first time, Asuma wished that blood pills were more readily available. Unfortunately, though, they were rare and extremely expensive, and had become even more so in the years since Tsunade had left the Leaf Village.

"That'll have to do for now," Asuma said, tying the final bandage tight, causing Yurinojou to wince slightly. "Do you think you'll be able to move now, Yurinojou-san?"

Standing up, the shinobi from the Land of Greens replied, "Of course. I'm ready to go at any time."

Asuma nodded. "Alright then. In that case, the rest of you should get moving toward the border again. I'm going to circle back to try to find Hinata and Naruto."

"I'll...I'll help look!" Chouji suddenly spoke up, stepping forward.

Asuma shook his head firmly, "No, Chouji. You need to stay with the rest of the group. I'll handle this myself."

Chouji was undeterred, "But what about what you said before? You said they could end up coming here and we might pass right by each other while looking. At the very least, someone should stay here in case they end up coming."

"I'm going to leave a shadow-clone here in case that happens," Asuma replied. It would be a bit of a stretch with his remaining chakra reserves, but Asuma was sure he could do it. "Besides, a clone dispelling will alert me to come back more effectively than any other signal would be."

Chouji bit his lip, understanding, but clearly still not liking it. "But…"

Putting his hand on the young boy's shoulder, Asuma looked him in the eye, "The mission's not done yet, Chouji. Someone from our team needs to stay with the princess. I'm trusting you with this. You represent the rest of Team Nine. Do you understand?"

Slowly, the rotund boy reluctantly nodded, "Yes, Sensei." Turning around he walked over to stand with Yurinojou and Haruna.

Asuma turned to face Kikunojou. "Should we set up a point to rendezvous?" the elder Greens Country shinobi asked.

Asuma shook his head, "Just keep heading toward the border via the fastest route. I'll be able to find you one way or another. Listen, if I'm not back by morning, you should…"

Behind him, Asuma heard the clatter of rocks from within the ravine. Instantly, himself and everyone else was on alert. The two Greens Country ninjas both had their weapons out, and Asuma himself drew one of his trench knives.

Their concerns were alleviated a second later, when, in a flash of orange, Naruto landed in the clearing, face down and kneeling on one knee.

Asuma experienced a brief second of relief, "Naruto! I'm glad to see…" Asuma's voice cut off mid-sentence as Naruto slowly stood erect.

Red. The front of Naruto's body was stained red with blood, from his shoes to the whole front of his jumpsuit, and even a fine layer covering his face. But all that paled when Asuma's mind caught up to what Naruto was carrying.

There, in Naruto's arms, looking even smaller and more fragile than he had ever seen her, was Hinata. She hung there limply, unresponsive and unmoving. There was a kunai knife still sticking out of her back, and droplets of blood still dripped down, staining the ground the same color of red.

Naruto looked up at Asuma, his eyes shining with desperation, "Sensei...help…" was all he could say.

Asuma bolted forward, his training and years of experience taking over. Without hesitation, he began giving orders, "Lay her down Naruto, gently. Good, there, now step back."

"What should I do, Sensei?" Naruto asked, looking ready to help.

"Get out of the way," Asuma answered brusquely. "Kikunojou-san, can you…?"

"Yes," Kikunojou responded promptly, pulling out the medical supplies they had only moments ago been using on Yurinojou. He kneeled down at Hinata's side next to Asuma and prepared to assist him.

"Sensei, let us help…" Chouji said, stepping up to them, "We can…"

"Yurinojou-san!" Asuma called loudly. It was cold, but he didn't have time to deal with the boys right now.

Without hesitation, Yurinojou stepped up behind Chouji and Naruto and wrapped an arm around each of them, pulling them back and out of the way. The two boys struggled, but the Greens Country ninja was able to hold them in place.

Turning away from his other two students, Asuma placed all of his attention onto Hinata. Looking down, he saw that bandages had been crudely wrapped around the girl. Not so much for covering her injuries, it seemed, but more for applying pressure. It wasn't much, but it was something, at least. Taking out one of his trench knives, he began cutting away the girl's bloody jacket, splitting it open and moving it and the bandages out of the way, careful not to disturb her injuries. He did the same with the shirt underneath it. Beneath that, he saw that the kunai had severed the straps of a small, purple training bra, which he moved out of the way as well.

Asuma cringed as the extent of the problem came into view. Hinata's back was a bloody mess. Taking out his canteen, he spilled some water on the girls back to wash away some of the blood. With that done he was finally able to get a good view of his student's injuries. Looking down he saw that there were actually two wounds, one of the kunai no doubt having fallen out at some point while Naruto was carrying her. Both wounds were still slowly seeping blood.

Alright, Asuma thought, I'll need to pack the wounds and bind them tightly in order to stop the bleeding. Trouble is, I'll have to remove the kunai first, which will make the bleeding worse for a while…

Asuma put his hands on Hinata's back in order to apply pressure, and flinched as he did so. She was cold. Her skin was already cold and clammy, and starting to turn grey. Turning her head to look at her face, Asuma saw that she was pale as a sheet, and her lips were blue. Her breaths came in short, sharp gasps.

"This is bad, Asuma-san," Kikunojou muttered from next to him. "She's already gone into shock."

Asuma grit his teeth, "I know."

Putting his two forefingers to her neck, Asuma found that her pulse was rapid, her heart having increased its pace tremendously to try to compensate for the loss of blood pressure. Racking his brains for something they could do to improve the situation, Asuma kept coming back to one inescapable conclusion: they were too late. Hinata had already lost too much blood. Even if they completely bound up her wounds now, there was no replacing the blood she had already lost. An experienced medic may be able to set up a blood transfusion, or even better, give her a blood pill, but Asuma was no medic-nin. No matter what he tried to think of, he knew they were already out of options.

The icy feeling that had been resting in the pit of his stomach since the mission had first started to go awry now exploded outward, spreading a chill sensation throughout his being until it felt as though his whole body was encased in ice. In his mind, his memories flashed back to the Third Great Shinobi War, the Guardian Shinobi Coup d'état, and the night of the Kyuubi attack, remembering all the comrades, friends and loved ones he lost over the years, all the people he had tried to save, and failed. And now he was living that all over again, only worse this time. This wasn't just a comrade-in-arms, this was his student, someone who had been entrusted to his care. This was the crowning moment of all of his failures.

Standing off to the side, Haruna watched the scene play out before her. The girl was going to die, she was fairly certain of that. She didn't need any underlying medical knowledge to come to this determination. The grim, shadowed looks on the faces of her two shinobi guardians, along with guilt shining in their eyes, told her all she needed to know. Turning to look at the Konoha jounin who's services they had illicitly obtained, she saw that he was quietly and calmly going about his tasks, attempting to perform first aid with confident motions that bespoke consummate professionalism. But his eyes, too, shone with a look of desperation. The look of a man struggling his hardest against the inevitable.

Finally, Haruna looked over at the two boys who made up the other half of the Leaf Village team. The brat Naruto and the other boy, Chouji, were off to the side as well, being held in place by Yurinojou. Tears streaming down their faces, the two boys struggled against the elder shinobi's hold. Desperate to do something...anything...to help their friend, the two boys fought to break free. Their struggle was useless. Even if they could break free, there was nothing that either of them could do to help their teammate at this point, and Haruna suspected that the two youths knew it, as well. But they couldn't accept it, and so they continued to struggle.

Unbidden, a memory suddenly surfaced in Haruna's mind. The day she had been forced to leave Greens Country. That day, years ago, when she had been taken away from the only home she had ever known and forced to travel to a foreign nation, from which she would not be able to return for many years. As the carriage had carried her away she had tried her hardest not to look back. Though scared and lonely, she hadn't wanted to show any fear to the foreign nationals who had been escorting her. In spite of her determination, though, as the carriage had pulled away, she had given in to temptation just once, and looked behind her. In the distance, a small crowd of people stood in front of the stairs leading to the royal palace, watching the carriage take her away. Standing at the front of this crowd she had seen her father, looking sad and miserable, surrounded by his grim-faced shinobi guards. Various other retainers stood around them, their expressions ranging from sad to humiliated to angry.

And there, off to the side, had been two young boys, her childhood friends, being held in place by elder shinobi. Tears streaming down their faces, they struggled to break free, trying to run after her, desperate to do something...anything. There was nothing that either of them could have done, but they had tried, anyway.

She thought she had forgotten that day. No, rather, she had deliberately repressed it. The memory had been too painful to recall.

When she had finally been able to return, years later, she had kept everyone at arm's length, including the two of them. Or she had tried to, anyway. Yurinojou and Kikunojou had taken up roles as her bodyguards once more, staying by her side the whole time, accepting any abuse she sent their way without comment or complaint. She figured it was because they felt guilty for failing to protect her all those years ago, ridiculous as that was. They had just been kids too, at the time. It wasn't like it had been their fault. The strong used others however they wished, and the weak had to suffer being used. That was just how the world worked. It was terrible, but she had learned to accept it, and she had decided long ago to be one of the users, instead of one of the used.

Haruna looked down at the girl again. She looked very small, lying on the ground there. The young kunoichi had always been on the petite side, and now, lying there next to Kikunojou and the hulking form of her sensei, she looked positively tiny. How old is she, anyway? Haruna thought, Twelve...thirteen maybe? The same age I was when everything happened. Was...was I that small, back then?

All at once, Haruna realized something. She hadn't accepted it. She hadn't accepted it at all. The way the world was...the way the innocent suffered the depredations of the strong...she hated it. She thought she had come to terms with it, had prepared herself to do whatever was necessary for her own sake. But now, at this moment, she realized that she couldn't accept it...wouldn't accept it. The world may be cruel, but that didn't mean she couldn't fight it.

"Yurinojou," Haruna spoke, turning to her younger bodyguard, "give it to them."

Yurinojou blinked, the two genin in his grip falling still for a moment as they all turned to look at the princess, "Your Highness? What do you mean?"

"Give it to them," Haruna said again. "The slug woman's gift. I know you have it."

"I...my lady…" Yurinojou stammered, before lowering his voice to just loud enough for her to hear, "We...we were saving that in case…"

"I know," Haruna replied, "but they need it more, now. It can save her, can't it?"

"It...it might," Yurinojou confirmed, "but it could already be too late. If we end up wasting it…"

"Yurinojou," Haruna said firmly, "this is an order. Let them use it on her."

Yurinojou finally relented, and nodded his assent, "Yes, your highness." Looking down at the two genins in his arms, he spoke again, "I'm going to let you both go now. Please, stay still for a moment." Releasing the two boys, Yurinojou began digging through his supplies. Naruto and Chouji, quiet for the moment, stayed still and watched, sensing that something important was happening.

By this time, Asuma was listening carefully to their conversation. "What's going on?" he asked, looking at Kikunojou, "What is it they're talking about?"

"Something that may help," Kikunojou replied, carefully. "Something that was given to us many years ago, by a woman named Tsunade."

Asuma's eyebrows shot up. Tsunade?! That's right...they mentioned her name before, so I knew they had met her...she gave them something...but what?

Asuma's question was answered a moment later when Yurinojou pulled a small, rectangular container from out of his jacket. Popping the container open, he revealed the contents to be a small bottle filled with blood red liquid, and a syringe. Stepping forward, he spoke, "Asuma-san...our lady has ordered us to give this to you. We were saving it in case the princess herself became badly injured, but please use it on your student."

Asuma looked up at the substance, warily. In spite of his desperation, his knowledge of the woman in question led him to be cautious. "What is it, exactly?" he asked, "How did you come by it?"

Kikunojou responded, "Many years ago, the nations bordering ours were struck by a great plague, a virulent illness that struck down old and young alike. Hundreds were killed by it. The people of the Land of Greens lived in fear, terrified that the disease would make its way to our country as well. And sure enough, a few people became sick and began showing signs of the plague."

Picking up the story, Yurinojou continued, "That was when she showed up...a traveling healer named Tsunade. She fearlessly quarantined herself along with the infected, taking care of them, keeping them alive and enabling them to endure the disease. Also, in a very short period of time, she was able to create a vaccine to prevent the disease from spreading any further. Thanks to her, the Land of Greens was spared from the ravages of the plague."

Kikunojou again spoke, "Our feudal lord, you can imagine, was very grateful to her for her swift actions. Though she had asked for nothing in return, he in gratitude immediately paid off all of her gambling debts in the nation, which were...considerable. He also invited her to stay in the palace, which she did for a few months. During that time, the three of us spent a great deal of time with her, and became rather close. She was a strange woman, but she was kind to us. I think she became rather fond of all of us. In any case, before she left, she gave us this. She called it the 'Edge of Life Serum'."

Stepping forward and pressing the container into Asuma hand, Yurinojou finished, "She told us that it was designed to help someone who was on the verge of dying. Apparently, it hyper-accelerates the body's ability to produce new blood cells, enabling a person to survive even after losing a great deal. It also greatly enhances the body's own natural healing processes. By itself, it won't completely heal someone, but it will keep someone alive for much longer than they would otherwise." The ninja from Greens Country looked Asuma in the eyes, "Asuma-san...this may not fix everything by itself, but it could keep her alive long enough to get help."

Asuma stared into the man's eyes for a moment, before looking down at the object in his hand. So that's the whole story, he thought. It explained a lot of things. The story as a whole made sense. He knew that many years before, during the Great Shinobi Wars, Tsunade had single-handedly created the Leaf Village's medic-nin program, and pioneered many advancements in the field of medicine. During that time, she had invented blood pills, which had saved many lives by allowing a person to survive otherwise fatal blood loss. It sounded as though this substance was somehow an enhanced version of those very pills. It made sense that Tsunade would be able to create such a serum...but even so, he couldn't help but hesitate. His hope and desperation were tempered by his knowledge of the rest of Tsunade's story.

In the years since she had left Konoha, Tsunade had become a wandering vagrant, a drunk, and an incorrigible gambler. Certainly, when she was in her prime she could have created such a substance, but was that still true now? After years of aimless wandering, more than a decade after retiring as a medic-nin, had her skills not deteriorated at all?

Asuma looked down at Hinata once more, saw her body rising and falling weakly with each shuddering breath, and knew that he didn't have a choice, either way. Nothing else he could do would make any difference. One way or another, he would have to put his faith in his father's wayward student.

Removing both objects from the small box, Asuma inserted the syringe needle into the bottle and pulled out the plunger, watching as the bright red liquid filled up the barrel. Moving carefully, he slowly inserted the needle into one of Hinata's veins.

Alright, Tsunade, Asuma thought grimly, we're only even here because of you in the first place. You got my students into this...you sure as hell better get them out, too!

Pressing down on the plunger, Asuma watched as the substance disappeared from within the syringe, flowing directly into Hinata's bloodstream. Removing the syringe, Asuma carefully dealt with the tiny injection wound. That, unfortunately, was about all he could at this point. He went about putting the finishing touches on the dressings for Hinata's other wounds, but aside from that all he could do was wait. Wait and wonder. Would it be enough? Would the serum even work? Had they gotten it to her in time? Blood pills, he knew, took anywhere between five to ten minutes to fully go into effect. Would that be enough time, or were they already too late?

Before he even had time to really think about any of these questions, Asuma looked up when he heard Kikunojou gasp, next to him. "Asuma-san...look!"

Looking back down at Hinata, Asuma's eyes widened in shock. There, on Hinata's cheeks, the tiniest tinge of pink had appeared. Even as Asuma watched, color began returning to Hinata's face, the blue color slowly but surely disappearing from her lips. Putting his hand on her back, Asuma could feel her skin starting to warm up minutely. Her breaths were still shallow, but even now he could see they were evening out.

Asuma could scarce believe it. It hasn't even been a whole minute yet, and it's already having this much of an impact?! Unbelievable! This is way more effective than a blood pill!

"Sensei…" Naruto spoke up, inching around to try to see what was happening. Asuma had positioned himself between Hinata and the boys, to preserve her modesty a little. "...what's happening? Is it working?"

Asuma watched for another few moments, carefully making sure. Ultimately, there was no denying it though. "It's working," he confirmed. "She's getting better, for the moment."

"So...she'll be alright?" Chouji asked, his voice a mix of tension and desperate hope.

"She's not completely out of the woods yet," Kikunojou responded, "but we have time now. We should get her to a medical professional as soon as possible."

A wave of relief washed over the assembled group at the news. Naruto and Chouji finally relaxed, Naruto able to still his fidgeting, while Chouji all but collapsed to the ground, sitting down and letting out a deep breath. Yurinojou sighed with relief and looked gratefully over at Haruna, who simply closed her eyes and accepted the news without comment.

Asuma nodded. "I sent a request to Konoha earlier for reinforcements. With any luck, they'll send along a medic-nin as well. In the meantime, we should aim to get the rest of the way across the border. We'll hold here for a little while, wait for Hinata's condition to fully stabilize, then we'll need to get moving again." Asuma paused, looking over the remainder of the group, taking note of the exhaustion and injuries sported by each. Finally, his gaze settled on Naruto, whose bloodstained appearance was still a ghastly sight. "Naruto, are you hurt? Where are your injuries?"

Naruto blinked, as if caught off guard by the question, "Oh...I'm fine, sensei. I'm not hurt at all."

Asuma arched an eyebrow, "Are you sure? Maybe you should let me check...you look like you've been through the wringer."

Naruto shook his head, "I'm sure, I'm not injured at all. It's...not my blood."

Asuma looked his student up and down. It was true that Naruto appeared to be moving as though he was completely fine, but still. The blood aside, Naruto looked like he'd been hit by something. His clothes, in particular the sleeve on his right arm, were torn and shredded. It didn't seem possible that he could come through something like that without taking any damage. "I see...if you're sure…" Asuma said, "In any case, what exactly happened after you and Hinata got separated from the group?"

"Ah…well, you see…" Naruto then gave an abridged rundown of the series of events that transpired when he and Hinata had stayed back to delay the pursuit.

Asuma listened carefully as Naruto told his story, his eyebrows rising more and more as his student related the events. Naruto was knocked out by a genjutsu...and then Hinata defeated one of the Janin by herself? It sounded unbelievable, but Naruto certainly sounded sincere as he told the story. It was during the next part that Naruto's story started to sound fishy. The part about them being caught off guard by the Janin's two henchmen and Hinata being injured was believable enough, but when Naruto got to his own part in the encounter, he suddenly became reticent. He didn't elaborate or say how he managed to defeat two enemies at once, he simply said he 'defeated them', and left it at that. As he said this, Naruto was looking off to the side, not meeting Asuma's gaze.

Asuma observed his student again through slightly narrowed eyes. It was clear that Naruto was concealing something about what had happened. To think he had defeated not one, but two enemies at the same time, when only yesterday he had faced one of their comrades one-on-one and been beaten. What's more, it was unlike Naruto to undersell his own accomplishments. Asuma was certain he wasn't the only one who had noticed, either. Kikunojou and Yurinojou were both looking at Naruto queerly, and the princess looked distinctly suspicious. Chouji, fortunately, seemed too distracted with trying not to look as Naruto wiped the blood from his face to notice anything else.

That was another thing...the blood, Asuma assumed, must have come from during his fight with the two Janin henchmen. What exactly did he do to them? Did he go berserk after Hinata was hurt, and end up overdoing it? Is that what he's trying to cover up? Also, his lack of injuries…

An alarm bell went off in the back of Asuma's mind. He suddenly remembered a conversation he had had with his father, immediately after being informed that Naruto would become his genin subordinate. Enhanced healing ability...immense chakra capacity...the seal designed to leak...Could it be? Asuma wondered. He scanned Naruto from top to bottom, warily. He couldn't detect anything amiss at this point. He didn't sense anything untoward about Naruto's presence or chakra. If something had happened with the seal, it didn't seem to be affecting Naruto at this point. I'll have to ask him about later, he decided, he seems fine for the moment. I'll just have to trust that Naruto wouldn't willingly endanger us if something was wrong.

"I see," Asuma said as Naruto finished up his story. "Well you did the best you could, and you got Hinata to us in time, that's what counts. Now then…" he moved on before anyone else could question Naruto's account, "...it's time for us to get moving. Kikunojou-san, if you could, please help me get Hinata up across my back. I'll carry her the rest of the way."

"Are you sure it's necessary for us to move out right away, Asuma-san?" Kikunojou asked, "According to Naruto-san, the other Janin, as well as the last two henchmen have been taken care of. That accounts for all of the ones we saw in the clearing earlier."

Asuma shook his head, "We shouldn't assume that there aren't any more of the enemy out there. Besides, for all we know there could be other reinforcements already on their way." Asuma thought back to before. That glass creature he had seen in the clearing before Jiga had left still nagged at him. They had seen no sign of the creature since then, but even so… "Kikunojou-san, how far away would you say we are from the border now?"

The Greens Country shinobi thought about that for a moment before responding, "We're close, though there's still a fair ways to go. If we keep a good pace, we should get there by late morning."

"Good, In that case, let's get moving now," he said. Looking at everyone, especially Naruto and Chouji, he continued fervently, "It's just a little bit farther everyone. Let's push through to the end."

His students both nodded, determination briefly covering over the other conflicting emotions in their eyes.

As the rest of the group got ready to get underway, Asuma carefully wrapped Hinata in one of the "Leaf Village Moving Service" jackets that had been stashed away with their other supplies. After this, he and Kikunojou carefully lifted her up onto his back, Asuma gingerly hefting the girl to be as stable as possible.

With that done, the assembled shinobi and one civilian got underway once more, moving with all the speed they could muster toward the unseen border that still lay far off in the distance.

They were in the home stretch.

In the end, it took slightly longer than Kikunojou had predicted for them to reach the border. Their pace had been slightly slower than they had wanted, due to a combination of concern for stressing Hinata's wounds, the various injuries the rest of them had suffered, and Haruna's own exhaustion from trying to keep up with trained shinobi.

As it happened, they finally approached their final destination at midday, just as the sun was reaching its zenith.

"That's it," Kikunojou said, nodding at the scene ahead. "Just across this valley...that river there. Once we cross that, we'll be out of the Land of Greens."

The rest of the group looked at what lay ahead of them. Before them was a gently sloping valley, rocky, with sparse patches of grass dotting the ground here and there. On the other side, less than a mile away, was a small river. The waters of the river flowed slowly and looked shallow, more of a large stream, really. Asuma doubted that crossing it would even require the water-walking technique, which was fortunate since his genin still didn't know it.

Old instincts in the back of Asuma's mind advised caution. Really open here...no good cover anywhere.

But there was nothing else for it.

Nodding, Asuma responded, "Good, let's move."

Stepping out from the treeline, the group pushed ahead, crossing the rocky valley toward their long-awaited goal.

The noonday sun blazed overhead, without a cloud in the sky to provide any relief, beating down on the already exhausted party. They were about halfway across the valley. All of them were sweating hard (especially Chouji) but pushed on without complaint.

Awfully bright out, today, Asuma noted. The scenery around him was brightly illuminated by the daylight. In fact, it almost felt like the day was getting even brighter and hotter even as he thought about it…

Asuma's instincts suddenly screamed at him to move. "Scatter!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, leaping hard to the side while keeping Hinata as steady as possible on his back.

Fortunately, the rest of the group responded immediately, Naruto and Chouji following him without hesitation, while Kikunojou and Yurinojou grabbed the princess and pulled her out of the way as well.

It was very fortuitous timing, as a second later a pillar of light flared into existence in the area the group had been standing in. As pure light seemingly coalesced on the spot, the dry grass caught fire and burned away almost instantly. The rocks under the pillar turned red, then turned white as the heat built up, before exploding as the heat became too much, casting blazing hot stone shards in all directions.

After a second of blasting down onto the ground, the pillar of light suddenly vanished, leaving a scorched, smoking crater where it had been.

"What...what the hell was that?!" Naruto called out, staring aghast at the burned ground.

"Let's regroup," Asuma called the others. "Don't stand too close together, though."

Slowly the group came together again, all of them looking around warily.

"Did anyone see where the attack came from?" Yurinojou's hand was on his weapon.

Chouji shook his head. "It was like it came from the sky!" he said.

Asuma had already checked above them. He didn't see anything in the sky, except for the too-bright sun. "I think we should keep moving," he said. "We're too close to stop now. Everyone stay on alert and be prepared to dodge."

Before they could resume moving, however, Kikunojou's alarmed voice cut through the air, "Asuma-san...there!"

The group turned to look behind them. There, walking sedately out of the forest, was a lone ninja. He was dressed in the now familiar green shirt and gloves, brown pants, and kilt-like wrapping they had seen on all of their opponents so far, except that he also wore a red-trimmed, purple vest over this, and the wrapping for him was white. His face was adorned with a trio of purple fang-shaped tattoos.

None of the assembled party needed to be told: this was the last Janin.

Asuma ground his teeth. Dammit, we were so close!

Kikunojou drew his weapon, "Everyone...keep moving. I'll hold him off."

Haruna swallowed heavily and pointed towards the forest, "I don't think that's going to be an option Kikunojou…"

"Oh, come on," Chouji groaned. "You've got to be kidding me…"

As they watched, the forest suddenly filled with activity. There, emerging from out of the treeline, was a continuous line of shinobi, all wearing the colors of the Janin's forces. The line of ninjas stretched halfway across the valley, with the Janin himself in the middle. Asuma estimated their numbers to be at least a hundred.

Looks like this last one has learned his brothers' lesson, he thought. He's pulling out all the stops.

Asuma sighed. There was simply no way for them to defend against such overwhelming numbers, not on ground this wide open, anyway. No matter how quickly they took out their opponents, they would inevitably be surrounded and overrun. Their previous tricks had only just barely worked against a group of twelve, and back then they'd had time to prepare.

There was really only one option left: Attack. If I can somehow take out the leader, that might discourage his followers and throw them into confusion. He's the last of the Janin, after all. Without him, they're just a pack of brigands with no cohesion. That's my best shot, anyway.

Aloud, Asuma called to his student, "Chouji...come over here and take Hinata for me, please."

"Ah...yes, sensei," the boy responded, coming over and carefully receiving his unconscious teammate from their commander.

Kikunojou glanced over at Asuma as the Leaf Village jounin readied his weapons. "Asuma-san, what are you going to…"

"You all need to keep moving," Asuma said, overriding the other man's words. "I'm going to go after their leader. The rest of you should make a break for the border. No matter what happens, keep running and don't turn back."

"Sensei, you can't!" Chouji shouted at his teacher, looking panicked.

"There's no way you'll be able to win," Yurinojou agreed, "You'll be overwhelmed and killed, even if you manage to reach the Janin. You can't just go in alone."

Asuma shook his head, "I won't be going alone," he said. Turning to look at his orange-clad subordinate, Asuma spoke, "Naruto...what's the absolute maximum number of shadow clones you can make at one time?"

Naruto looked up at his sensei in surprise for a moment, before his expression hardened. His eyes burning with determination, he slammed his hands together into a ram seal, "Let's find out!"

Closing his eyes, Naruto began gathering every last drop of chakra that he could summon up. Even as he did so, though, he became certain that it wouldn't be enough. With the amount of chakra reserves he had left, he could probably make a few dozen shadow clones, not nearly as many as he wanted for this. There was only one more thing he could do…

There was a darkness inside of him. He could feel it, as he drew on his chakra reserves. It had always been there, he realized now, buried deep down within his chakra. He had just never really noticed it before now. After the events of the previous night, however, it was no longer possible to be oblivious to it. That said, he now realized that he had felt this dark presence once before today. He had felt it on the night he became a genin, during his final fateful fight with Mizuki-sensei. At that time, he had felt a rush of power and had summoned an incredible number of clones. He knew that he needed that kind of power once again, but…

He was afraid. No, he was terrified of the darkness that lurked within him. He was afraid of what it was...what it meant...what it could turn him into. The memories he had of the previous night...didn't feel like him. It felt almost as though he had been watching his body act of its own accord, but at the same time, he had been in control. It had been him and not him at the same time...or more like he was becoming something else. He was afraid, but...

Everyone...Asuma-sensei, Yurinojou-san and Kikunojou-san, Haruna, Chouji...Hinata…

They were all counting on him. No, they needed him. What he did could mean the difference between any of them living and dying. There was time for doubt now.

Steeling himself, Naruto reached for that place once again.

All at once, the world around him seemed to vanish. The heat of the sun and the feeling of the slight breeze against his skin disappeared in an instant, replaced by a feeling of coldness and damp. The sounds of his comrades nearby and the approaching army also vanished, and in their place there was near total silence, save for what sounded like water dripping in the distance.

Naruto opened his eyes...and found himself standing in a dank, dark, sewer-like tunnel.

For a moment, Asuma worried that he may have asked too much of his student. Naruto stood there, unmoving, for several moments, his eyes closed and hands held in a ram seal. Perhaps he was too tired, exhausted after the night and morning of constant travel and lack of sleep. Perhaps Asuma was taking his massive chakra stores for granted.

Before Asuma could worry too much on this, however, Naruto's eyes suddenly shot open. At the same instant, a wave of chakra suddenly burst forth, so thick and powerful that it was even visible to the naked eye as a blue glow surrounding the boy. Through the aura, it looked as though Naruto's normally blue irises had taken on a violet tinge.

Looking up, Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs, "Multi-Shadow-clone Jutsu!"

An instant later, the air roared with sounds of hundreds of banging noises. All around them, clouds of smoke burst into existence, nearly filling half the valley and briefly obscuring their view of everything around them. The smoke dissipated quickly, as jutsu smoke always did, and when it was gone the mouths of the rest of the group fell open in shock. Standing all around them in every direction, there was a wall of orange jumpsuits. The Naruto clones surrounded them in a huge mass, clearly outnumbering even the approaching army of shinobi.

Asuma couldn't help but grin. Damn, that's even more than I was expecting. There has to be at least three hundred of them, maybe even four hundred!

Asuma smiled down at his subordinate, "Well done, Naruto. You did well, that's enough for now. Now I want the real you to retreat with the others. No buts!" he said, already seeing the reluctance in the boy's eyes and cutting it off at the pass. "I want you and Chouji to protect Hinata. Whatever it takes, complete the mission and get one another home. Do you understand?"

The two young men still looked reluctant, but nodded as one. "Yes, Sensei," they both said together.

"Good...I'm counting on you." Turning around, Asuma faced the enemy army once again.

Whatever their surprise may have been to witness another army appearing out of nowhere to face them, the rogue ninjas managed to recover surprisingly fast. Drawing their weapons, the host let out a deep roar and charged across the valley.

Asuma raised his voice so even the furthest clones could hear him, "Alright, all you clones, with me!" Dashing forward, Asuma charged to meet the oncoming horde.

Letting out a significantly higher-pitched roar, the assembled Narutos followed and counter-charged, several of them drawing kunai and shurikens as they ran.

The two armies drew closer and closer together, the very ground shaking from the pounding of hundreds and hundreds of feet.

As he charged amidst the orange throng, Asuma suddenly felt the heat on his neck begin to spike. Without hesitating he leapt to the side, getting out of the zone of the rising heat. "Dodge!" he called to the clones surrounding him.

Some of the clones were able to react in time and follow, but several more were not fast enough as the pillar of fiery light descended once again. This time the pillar did not remain stationary, either, but carved a path as it travelled along the ground, cutting a swathe through the host of clones. Asuma glanced up as the attack dissipated once again, but did not see anything above him. Damn...where is that attack coming from?

Asuma didn't have much time to think on it, however. As the two opposing armies drew to within a few dozen meters of one another, kunai and shurikens started to fly between them. A dozen or so clones were destroyed and vanished in the flurry of flying metal, and here and there along the line of dark-clad shinobi, one or two of their number staggered and fell.

A second later the two forces met, and the air became filled with the sounds of shouts and grunts of pain, metal clashing against metal, and the colliding of bodies.

The battle that followed, had it not primarily involved shadow clones, might have been called a bloodbath. Throughout the valley, the air was filled with the bangs of dispelling shadow clones, as said clones were struck down with weapons and jutsus and simple fists. The weakness of shadow clones, ultimately, was their fragility. It generally only took a single good blow to destroy one, and Naruto had not yet reached the level where his clones were skilled enough to avoid damage. As a result, though the foes they faced were not greatly more skilled than Naruto himself, the clones were defeated at a far higher rate.

That wasn't to say that the battle was completely one-sided, of course. Here and there across the battlefield, Asuma spotted gangs of clones dragging down isolated enemies in ones or twos, pummeling them down with fists or stabbing them with kunai knives. Regardless, Asuma knew that his time was not unlimited.

As it was, Asuma only had a few seconds to observe the surrounding battle in passing, as he ruthlessly cut down the first then second enemies who foolishly tried to impede him. Emerging from the fringes of the melee, he dashed toward the lone opponent who stood apart from the fray.

Renga smirked as the Leaf Village jounin approached him. "So...it's you, then, who will be my oppon…"

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know," Asuma snapped, interrupting. "You're Whatever of the Janin and you're going to destroy me. I heard it all from both of your brothers. Can we skip to the part where we both try to kill one another?"

Renga chuckled, "Fair enough. Fine by me." Putting his hands together briefly, the Janin then thrust both of his hands forward, as though casting something, and...nothing happened.

Once again, it was only Asuma's instincts and years of experience that saved him, leading him to jump aside at the last second. Even so, something unseen sliced into his flak jacket, leaving a shallow cut along his abdomen.

Asuma cursed silently. Great, so his attacks are invisible. Because this couldn't just be simple. I need to figure out the nature of his jutsu as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, Asuma focused his wind element chakra into his trench knives, causing them to alight with ethereal wind blades. Swinging his arms as though cutting into the air before him, Asuma launched his first jutsu, "Wind-style: Rising Wind!"

One after the other, two blades of wind sliced through the air toward the Janin, only to crash into something unseen an instant before reaching him. Though the attack didn't reach its intended target, it did leave a mark. Bizarrely, the air in the spot where the jutsu had ended had become distorted, as though someone had carved an 'X' into the very air itself.

As I suspected, Asuma thought, his defences are invisible, too.

Even as Asuma watched, it appeared as though something liquid was flowing into the 'X' his wind blades had left in the shield in front of the Janin. A second later, the substance solidified, causing the spherical shield to become invisible once more.

"Ah...so that's your gimmick, huh?" Asuma said aloud, "It's not glass, but ice."

Renga laughed. "I thought you didn't want to talk?" he said, forming a pair of hand seals. "That's just the bare minimum, of what I can do, though…"

A second later, Asuma felt the heat on the back of his neck, once again. Daring to wait for a second this time, Asuma risked a glance skyward. This time, he saw something glinting in the sky overhead, as though something lay directly between him and the sun. Asuma was barely able to dodge this time around when the beam of light incinerated the rocks where he had been standing. As it was, he was pelted by white-hot shrapnel, causing some light burns across his arms when he went to shield his head.

I get it now...its a lens. Asuma thought, He's actually focussing the light from the sun into an attack, like a kid burning ants with a magnifying glass. Which I guess makes me the ant…

Renga laughed once more as Asuma regained his footing. "Nice weather we're having today isn't it?" he taunted. "Bright and sunny, without a cloud in the sky."

Gesturing with his arms once again, the Janin sent another round of transparent ice shurikens flying toward Asuma, forcing the Leaf Village jounin to keep moving to avoid the unseen projectiles.

As he was dodging the invisible shurikens, Asuma tried to think of a solution. If he could just use the Thousand-Armed Murder, he could probably batter down his opponent's defences and then pummel him into the ground, just as he had against Ruiga. The problem was with the enemy's light attack. If he stopped moving long enough to summon the Thousand-Armed Kannon, there was no doubt that the Janin would hit him with his most powerful jutsu. Unlike Ruiga's water spheres, there was no way to deflect or defend against an attack made of pure light. It was his fastest way to victory, but he would almost certainly die if he tried.

"Are you sure you want to fight this battle out to the end?" Renga asked, "You still have time to give up and run, you know. My only target is the princess."

Asuma glared at the Janin, still standing motionless behind his ice shield. "Don't get cocky," he snapped. "You haven't even close to beaten me, yet."

Smirking, Renga took his eyes off of Asuma, looking significantly at something in the distance. "I don't need to beat you," he replied evenly. "Time is on my side."

Hearing his words, Asuma glanced over his shoulder, and what he saw made him curse internally. The number of Naruto clones was already beginning to thin out. They outnumbered their foes by less than two to one at this point, which in this situation was not enough. Already a small cluster of the Janin's men had broken out of the melee and were proceeding to pursue the rest of Asuma's party, who were still fleeing toward the border. Hobbled as they were, the group from Leaf Village and Greens Country were unable to outpace their pursuers. There was little doubt that the rogue shinobi would catch up to their prey before they could cross the border. Even as Asuma watched, he saw Naruto and Yurinojou break off from the rest of the group, turning to face their pursuers and preparing to make a last stand.

No…

Asuma panicked. There was no way the remainder of their party could stand up against the Janin's host. Even if they held off the first group, more were sure to follow in the next few minutes. If that happened, Asuma would lose everything.

In that moment, Asuma realized how little everything else mattered to him. The trio from the Land of Greens were good people, but his primary concern wasn't for them. He didn't care about his mission, nor did he give one whit for his own life. At that moment, all that mattered was protecting his students. The kids who he had taken under his wing and begun the process of teaching them to become real shinobi. The ones who relied on him, who he had sworn to protect at any cost. There was nothing more important, he realized, than that.

Suddenly, unbidden, a sequence of voices played through his mind, as from a record.

From Kikunojou…

For any parent...for any adult, really...protecting the next generation is always the most important thing. More so than any other duty…

...from his brother…

Everything I do, I do to protect what's most important.

...and from his father.

One day you'll understand what drives your brother forward. On the day you learn what it truly means to protect the king.

Had the situation been different, Asuma might have sighed and shaken his head at that moment.

Ah, man...am I really only just understanding that now? I really am the slow child in the family…

Without another thought, Asuma began gathering his chakra. Stopping in place, he brought his left hand up in a half-ram seal, while his right hand extended down with his palm parallel to the ground, the stance for the Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder. It took time for the enemy to reposition and refocus the lense for each shot. As a result, there was about a second of delay between when he activated the jutsu, and when the pillar of light hit the ground. If Asuma went all out in that second, he could defeat the Janin before his jutsu hit. Of course, there would be no way for Asuma to avoid the jutsu when it did come, but that was acceptable.

Sacrificing a pawn is worth it to protect the king...guess I may as well live up to my own words.

Even as Asuma prepared to activate his jutsu, he saw the Janin's expression turn from a smug grin to a confused frown. Once again, though, it wasn't Asuma he was looking at.

Risking one more glance over his shoulder, Asuma saw what had gained his enemy's attention. There, moving across the battlefield at an incredible speed, was a blur of white. The white streak moved across the valley until it suddenly came to a halt almost directly between the fleeing party, and the host of the Janin's soldiers. As its movement stopped, the blur resolved into a white-furred, red-faced rhesus monkey.

Asuma's eyes widened in shock. Kozaru-san!?

The little white monkey stood his ground between the Leaf party and the oncoming rogue ninjas, calmly removing the object he had slung over his back. The summon animal had apparently exchanged his usual message-container for a large scroll, which looked almost too large for the small creature to carry. Opening up said scroll, he unfurled it onto the ground, revealing a complex seal pattern painted onto the parchment.

Slamming his paws down onto the edge of the seal pattern, Kozaru called out, his high-pitched voice carrying across the battlefield, "Reverse-summoning Jutsu!"

Immediately, an explosion of white smoke burst forth from the center of the seal. As the jutsu smoke slowly dissipated, all eyes across the valley were drawn to that one point, everyone waiting to see what would emerge from the cloud.

When the smoke finally cleared, it revealed a crowd of about thirty people, all of them wearing the signature flak jackets of Konohagakure. Standing at the front of the group, Asuma spotted a familiar figure carrying an oversized bo staff.

Lifting his weapon above his head, Gendo roared, "Shinobi of the Sarutobi Clan...Attack!"

With an explosion of movement, the Konoha shinobi dashed forward, wiping out the advance group of enemies and then wading into the melee of Janin subordinates and clones. The Leaf ninjas, all jounin and chunin from the looks of them, launched waves of powerful jutsus that devastated the enemy's ranks, and moved from opponent to opponent taking down their foes with consummate skill and professionalism. It quickly became obvious that there was a massive disparity in strength and ability as the elite shinobi of Konoha cut a path across the battlefield.

The battle that followed was even more one-sided than it had been before, but this time in the opposite direction. The men who followed the Janin on their quest for power all had base level shinobi abilities that made them a danger to most ordinary people, but at the end of the day, they were all mostly thugs, more accustomed to using their abilities against those weaker than them. Against a collection of chunin and jounin from a major village, they stood almost no chance at all.

Asuma turned his attention away from the battle and back toward his opponent, to see that the last Janin was moving once again. Renga, seeing the tide rapidly turning against him, went through the seal combination for his ultimate jutsu, hoping to turn things back around by obliterating these newcomers. It would require him to roast some of his own men, but so long as he won, it didn't matter.

Realizing what the enemy had planned, Asuma finally activated his own ultimate jutsu. Assuming the required stance once again, Asuma initiated the Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder. At once a golden light enveloped him, and the Thousand-Armed Kannon appeared behind him. Focusing with everything he had, Asuma lashed out with every single one of the five-hundred spirit fists he could control. However, instead of aiming them at the Janin, he instead sent every single one of them straight up. The Thousand-Armed Murder was ordinarily a short-range jutsu only, however, by expending in a large amount of chakra, one could temporarily increase the range of the fists. Which is precisely what Asuma did. Dumping every last drop of his remaining chakra into the technique, Asuma stretched his spirit hands high into the sky, reaching with all of his might, until finally, the fists made contact with something solid.

With a crashing sound that could be heard even down on the ground, the spirit fists hammered into the invisible lens in the sky, blow after blow landing on it like a reverse rain. Within a few seconds cracks began to appear, spreading and growing into fissures. From down on the ground it almost looked like the sky itself was breaking. Finally, with a sound like breaking glass, the lens shattered, the ice that composed it melting, and then evaporating away.

Asuma, feeling drained, collapsed onto the ground. He had never used that jutsu in such a way before, and it had exhausted almost all that he had left. Unfortunately, this left him vulnerable to the still standing Janin.

Renga saw his most powerful jutsu being cancelled out before he could use it, and knew without a doubt that he had lost. Looking out across the battlefield, he saw his forces being routed. The vast majority had already been defeated, and most of those who were left were in retreat, scattering into the surrounding wilderness with Leaf shinobi pursuing them. He ground his teeth in impotent rage. Without his ultimate technique, there would be no salvaging this battle. He would most likely lose control of the majority of his men that remained, as well. He would have to start all over, this time without either of his brothers to help him. But there was nothing else for it, he would have to retreat for now. The sooner he got away, the sooner he could start building back up again.

But before he left, he could at least eliminate the architect of all his misfortune.

Looking up at the last Janin, Asuma saw the man spreading both his arms out, no doubt preparing another batch of invisible ice-shurikens. Defenseless as he was, he knew that there would be no way for him to either avoid or deflect the attack. With all his options gone, Asuma prepared to feel the barrage of missiles that would end his life.

Just before the Janin could launch his last, parting attack, however, another figure suddenly interposed himself between them.

With all the speed and strength of an elite Anbu agent, Gendo Sarutobi intercepted the enemy before he could finish off his younger brother, and swung his bo staff down with all of his might at the enemy. Renga, confident in his defences, didn't attempt to dodge the attack. Unfortunately for him, he severely underestimated the power of the bo staff-wielding man in front of him. So tremendous was the power behind the attack, Renga's ice shield was shattered to pieces in a single blow. Caught flat-footed, the Janin was unable to react when Gendo thrust his staff into the rogue shinobi's midsection, knocking the wind out of him and folding him over. With an easy spin of his weapon, Gendo slammed the other end of his bo staff into the back of his opponents head, slamming him face-first into the ground.

Gendo stood calmly in a ready stance for another moment, carefully watching his downed opponent for any signs of movement. After a moment of careful observation, he was confident that the enemy was down for good. With that done, he turned around to regard his brother, who was still seated on the ground.

Asuma, for his part, was still reeling from the whole turn of events, relieved, but finding it difficult to believe his good fortune at how quickly the situation had turned around. Looking up, he saw his brother looking down at him, expectantly. For a moment, both men were silent as they stared at one another. All around them, the battle that had been taking place was rapidly winding down. After several moments of silence, Asuma finally spoke up.

"I was like...two seconds away from doing that."

Gendo snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Of course you were."

Naruto stood off to the side, nervously hopping from one foot to the other as he watched the medic-nin work. Said medic-nin, a beautiful young woman with light-brown hair and gentle looking green eyes, stared down at her patient with absolute concentration, green healing energy flowing out of her hands and into Hinata's back. Naruto was incredibly anxious to know how it was going, but didn't want to disturb her as she was healing his teammate and friend. Chouji stood next to him, doing a slightly better job of containing himself, but only marginally.

It was still a bit jarring for Naruto, how quickly the situation had changed. Only a few minutes ago, he had been standing next to Yurinojou, watching as a group of enemies came bearing down on them, preparing to make their last stand and go down fighting. And now, here they were, not even paying attention to the battle anymore, as the sounds of conflict steadily died down. Teams of Konoha shinobi and clones were gathering together those members of the Janin's army who had surrendered, while others were breaking off to pursue those who had fled...Konoha shinobi who had appeared in the middle of the battlefield after being summoned out of a scroll by a monkey.

It was a lot to take in.

After a few tense moments, the medic-nin suddenly leaned back, the green energy flowing from her hands coming to a halt.

"Well?" Naruto asked anxiously, waiting for the medic to say something.

The pretty woman turned to Naruto and smiled, gently. "She's going to be fine," she said. "I've patched up the wounds on her back, and dealt with all of her internal injuries as well. She's well past the worst of it."

Hearing that, all the tension went out of both Naruto and Chouji's bodies. Naruto slumped in relief, while Chouji sank down and sat on the ground.

Naruto, much to his surprise, felt a stinging sensation in the corners of his eyes. He quickly wiped away any traces of moisture before saying simply, "Thank goodness."

Chouji didn't even try to hold back the tears that trickled out of his own eyes. "She's okay. We're all okay. We really...we really made it…"

The woman nodded, "She'll still need plenty of rest and time to recover, but overall she should be fine." The medic-nin cocked her head, looking down at Hinata quizzically. "Still...it's strange. Her wounds healed so easily. It's almost as if her body somehow doubled the effectiveness of my healing jutsus."

Naruto looked up at the woman. "Oh, yeah...she was given some kind of special medicine, made by someone called Tsunade..."

The woman's eyes widened in apparent shock. After a moment, she calmed and closed her eyes. "I see," she said, softly. "If it was something Sensei made, that would explain it."

"Sensei...?"

She shook her head, "Nevermind that. Do you have any injuries that need looking at, Naruto-kun?"

"No, I'm fine, I..." he paused, "How do you know my name?"

"Oh right, this is our first time meeting," the woman replied, with a touch of laughter in her voice. "But I've heard an awful lot about you, Naruto-kun. My son, Konohamaru, is a big admirer of yours."

Naruto's jaw nearly dropped in shock, "You're Konohamaru's mom?!"

No way! This lady's way too pretty and young looking to be a mother!

Before Naruto could express this sentiment aloud, he heard the crunch of gravel of someone approaching, and turned to see Asuma-sensei walking toward them. Or rather, their commander was half walking, half being carried by another, shorter man, who strangely looked a lot like him.

"Oi, Kana," the shorter man spoke, "if you're done there, you should probably take a look at this one. He's half killed himself from chakra exhaustion."

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Asuma said as he was slowly lowered to the ground. Waving tiredly at his brother's wife, Kana Sarutobi, he greeted her, "Hey Sis."

She smiled and nodded to him, "Asuma-kun."

"Um, sensei..." Chouji spoke up from the side. "What happens now? What should we do?"

Before Asuma could respond, the man next to him replied, "Nothing, just rest and recover. The Sarutobi Clan will handle the rest of the situation from here. Your mission, as of now, is over." With that said, the man turned and started walking away.

"Hey Gendo," Asuma called after the man, causing him to stop. "I was able to protect the king this time...right?"

Gendo turned around. He stared at Asuma-sensei quietly for a moment, and then glanced over to Naruto and the other genin.

"Yes," he responded after a moment. "This time...you did."

Chapter End

A/N:

Thanks as always for reading. I really appreciate all the support for this fic, especially those that have taken the time to leave a review. I hope you all continue to enjoy reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

So, with this, the Land of Greens Arc is technically finished. Obviously, I still need to do a bit to wrap everything up, and that will be the main purpose of the next chapter. I originally intended to get to all of it this chapter, but this seemed like a reasonable place to stop for now. The next chapter will be wrapping everything up and dealing with the fallout of everything that has happened. It will be pretty important character development, so I hope you'll look forward to that. After that, we'll be leaving the Land of Greens behind for good, and I'll hopefully never have to write the name "Kikunojou" ever again (seriously, try typing it, it sucks).

After that, I'll be ramping things up heading into the Chunin Exams. There'll be a brief intermission, and then we'll hopefully get right into it. Also, sometime in the next two chapters, we'll drop in briefly with the other two teams, to get an idea of what's been happening with them.

Before I get into the chapter notes, I'd like to address one thing I know some of you have been thinking about. I realize that over the last few chapters I've focussed pretty heavily on Asuma, somewhat to the expense of the genin. Hopefully, with the resolution of this chapter, you can all see why I've been doing that. A while ago, I was struck with an idea for a really cool character arc for Asuma, one that actually fit in quite nicely both with canon and with this particular story. I really wanted to complete this character arc for him by the end of the Land of Greens arc. For obvious reasons, Asuma will mostly step out of the story when the Chunin Exams start, so you can expect that starting now the story will focus much more heavily on the main three.

Anyway, onto the chapter notes:

(1.) This chapter includes both Naruto's first use of Kyuubi chakra, as well as his first meeting with the fox. I apologize if some of you were disappointed by my skipping that meeting, but I decided it would be best not to break up the action too much. Also, the meeting does not differ significantly from what happens in canon. I will mention what happened in the next chapter, anyway.

(2.) Again, sorry to those who were expecting another Asuma vs Ruiga fight, but I figured I had covered that matchup enough in previous chapters, so a brief summary would be best.

(3.) Some of you were expecting that Tsunade would make an appearance in this arc, and in this chapter she sort of did. I went into more detail (even than the show did) about how Tsunade ties in with the story of the Greens Country Trio. I thought that this bit of backstory actually made a good bit of sense, and fit in nicely with the story. Let me know what you thought.

(4.) The Edge of Life Serum, as I described in the chapter, is basically a souped-up blood pill in injection form, created by Tsunade. It also increases the effectiveness of healing jutsus and the body's own natural healing processes. My rationalization for the serums creation is that Tsunade's fiance, Dan, died due to blood loss on a mission, in spite of both blood pills and being directly healed by Tsunade. In the years since then, even while wandering around in her grief, Tsunade has always looked for ways that she might have saved Dan's life, leading her to create a substance even more powerful than the blood pills. The fact that the substance is an injection means that it can be directly injected into the bloodstream, and thus take effect far more quickly than a pill.

(5.) So in this chapter, I finally got to the climactic battle scene. I've been looking forward to writing this battle since I started the Land of Greens arc. Instead of the typical final boss fight, I thought it would be cool to end the arc with a large-scale battle instead. I realize it ended kind of suddenly, but I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you liked it.

(6.) Finally, I introduce another semi-OC, Konohamaru's mother and Gendo's wife, Kana Sarutobi. Like Gendo she is also a high-level ANBU agent, one of the "Hands of the Hokage", and a skilled medic-nin to boot. Just to be clear, when she called Tsunade "Sensei", that was not meant to imply that she was one of Tsunade's disciples like Shizune and Sakura. Rather, Kana is a veteran of the Konoha's medic-nin program from back when Tsunade was still in charge of it, and thus she was trained some by Tsunade herself. Though skilled, Kana's medical abilities are not on the same level as those three.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Have a great day.

Regards

MD