Not a whole lot of ninja cared about a young kid, but enough to give me a challenge kept on coming. I moved at a rapid pace, moving in a wicked dance. I shot a few Water jutsu but stuck mainly to taijutsu. I didn't let the bone dome weaken. I couldn't risk it. Not until the end. The guys were closing in. So many of them. It was kinda scary. I slowly allowed myself to take some bones from the dome, using them to form a backup spine for myself while I grabbed hold of my own, and whipped it out like a barbed battle whip, my eyes flashing. I swung it around, hearing it slam into walls, and leaving jagged gashes all over the walls. They stepped backwards, reassessing the situation, having a signed conversation which I barely understood, but I caught one word. "Alive." They needed me alive! They were gonna capture me, use my kekkei genkai. I immediately popped a purple pill into my mouth. Suicide pill, just in case. I had been trained as to how to use these things. The effects of the chakra pill were draining and I couldn't risk using another. I retreated to the bone dome, letting the bones seep into me. I turned to Kaito who had recovered somewhat, now only looking disgusted, and vaguely pale. Haku looked really pale, he seemed to have a head wound, but otherwise alright. So I guessed it was a concussion. I looked at them, "Run. No questions. Just run." I commanded.

Kaito glared, "No way. That's bullshit. You can't expect me to leave you alone, you'll die."

The Oto-nin cackled, "Listen to the boy, Kaguya bitch! We outnumber you!"

I glared at him, making sure the suicide didn't accidently get bitten when I said, "I don't care. Get outta here, bastard."

I let a flat panel of bone seep out of my bones, having it latch onto the two's feet. It started floating as fast as I could allow my chakra control to. As soon as it got out of sight, I stared down the five shinobi, "Come at me, bastards."

They grinned, and one of them held up a small wax ball, and before I could even blink, I was being blinded by a flash bang that burnt my eyes. I fought blind, blocking any close attacks judging off of sound like had done for hours a long time ago in Kiri. When the spots got out of my eyes, I realized why the enemy had backed away. I was surrounded by a huge amount of explosive kunai. All heading towards me and I would never be able to dodge. I closed my eyes, curling up into a fetal position to increase my chances of survival, I slid my real spine back into my body, my suicide pill clenched between my teeth, ready to kill myself if the closest ones to me when I got out of here would be the invaders. I shut my eyes as I heard a muffled sound, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" I was surrounded by heat and I was certain I was about to die. When the heat died away and yet I hadn't been harmed, I uncurled myself, looking around. The sight made my do a double take. Kaito was standing in front of me, shielding me, and beside him, was a huge bird, with flickering glowing feathers, standing in front of my now-dead attackers. It was a phoenix. The wreckage around me proved that it had probably deflected each attack. Kaito looked at me, worry glittering in his chocolate eyes, "Are you okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah. So, you have a Summoning scroll for phoenixes?"

He nodded, wringing his ponytail with his hands, "I didn't really intend to use it ever, but it's time I stopped being a coward. I'm not a pussy and its time to prove it."

I nodded, "Good for you. Come on, you've got this. Where's Haku?"

Kaito grinned sheepishly, "He's still in the alley you tried to conceal us in."

I nodded, "Come on. Who's your summon?"

The phoenix ruffled its feathers, it had a silvery voice when it spoke, yet had a jagged undertone, "I'm Hitoshi." So, a boy then, "It is nice to meet a Kaguya like you. They normally have such fluctuating emotions."

I raised an eyebrow, "…Alright, then? Can you summon more?"

Kaito nodded, "Yeah, phoenixes are the best summons, they can do anything!"

I shrugged, handing him a chakra pill, "Eat this. The training I gave you means you should have pretty substantial chakra levels, and they do seem to be on par with quite a few genin, so with the help of this and me pumping my own chakra into you, you should try to pour as much chakra into attempting to summon the Boss Phoenix."

He took the pill and dry-swallowed it, before weaving the hand signs with practiced ease and slamming his hand into the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A huge cloud of smoke enveloped us, and a positively massive bird rose up from its depths. It looked very like a cross between a hummingbird and an eagle, with the feathers near its beak being a bright blue which faded into white everywhere else, before turning into a violent shade of red and orange at the wings and tail. The air around it seemed to flicker from the heat, and its intelligent black eyes seemed to bore into us. "Ah, Kaito-sama." It finally warmly said, revealing it was, in fact, a girl. "I see you've finally been forced into summoning me. What happened?"

He rubbed his ponytail, "Hi…Hotaru. I needed help. Please. Konoha's under attack, and I-I can't–"

The bird nodded, "I understand, you're scared. You wish to do something, yet you're still scared. It doesn't matter. We'll help you. The Kanjō always did feel a lot. It's what makes you special."

Her calming voice rolled off of me in waves, and I suppressed the urge to relax. Now I got where Kaito got his emphatic personality from. I nodded at Kaito, "Explain later. We got this right now."

He grinned and we charged back into the fray, the two Phoenixes on our tail.

I didn't remember much about the invasion. It was just fighting, fighting, killing, wounding. It was only after the enemy withdrew and people started clearing up the bodies and looking through the damage that I felt anything. Kaito had fallen asleep as soon as Hotaru and I got him to the safehouses, but the Boss Phoenix summon remained behind to help out. I was aching with bruises and heavy internal bleeding, and a light concussion, but there were few actual wounds. My hand was bleeding heavily from when someone had hit me with a few senbon, that I wasn't certain if they had been laced with anything. Kakashi-Sensei put a hand on my shoulder, "It'll be fine." He soothed, really, really awkwardly. "Come on, you need sleep. Food. Anything but this."

I shook his arm off, "I can't find Kaito." I admitted, softly monotone. "I can't find Aoi, either. They might be dead. I never thought they would die from an invasion." I slowly, grudgingly admitting what I had hated about myself for a long time, "…I don't want them to die. They were supposed to be safe, low threat levels."

He knelt down, "Do you need a hug?" His voice was perfectly serious, "I… heard it helps."

"Definitely not." I decided immediately.

He ploughed on forward, "You've helped out so much. But right now, you're drained. You can't help anyone like this. By the time you're recharged, they'll probably come find us."

I nodded, "If you're sure…" before immediately letting sleep take over me…

When I woke up, I found myself curled into a corner of a room– hospital, judging by the scent– easily picking up on chakra signatures. One belonged to Sasuke, that I could figure out easily, another was Naruto's beacon of hope, and then the warm malleable chakra that belonged to… Kaito! I jerked up and looked around. I must have been really close to one of the beds, because when I jolted up, I came nose to nose with Sasuke, who immediately froze. I just twisted my neck to look around him. Yeah, there he was, the little orange haired boy. A Phoenix summon was sitting on his bedpost, probably Hitoshi. I walked over to him, putting a smile over my face. Kaito looked tiredly back upto me "Ya know, you don't have to broadcast your emotions like that?" He asked with a yawn, "I can feel your emotions resonating with my chakra."

I nodded, "Yeah, well, that's what you get for never telling me how badass you are."

He chuckled, "It's so weird, you're saying that in a perfect deadpan, but I know I can feel your emotions, but I have literally no idea what you're saying. It's adorable!"

I looked at him, noticing Sasuke turn around with a huff, burrowing into his blankets. "Alright…?" I accepted.

Hitoshi grinned, "Ignore him, Kaguya-hime. He's high as a kite on all the meds."

"Good to know." I replied. Before turning my attention to Naruto. He wasn't conscious, but the bandages covering every little part of him was cause for concern. I sucked in breath, leaning closer to him, "What happened? How long has it been?"

Sasuke grunted, "Hn, barely a day, and the dobe tried to fight against the Ichibi no Tanuki on his own."

I let out a sigh, "He won, right?" I mean, he had to. The village was still intact.

Sasuke stared at me, before grunting an affirmative.

I sighed, "Well, good to hear it. I'll be off then, looking for Haku and everyone." He just lokked away from me, but I could feel the discomfort oozing off of him, "That reminds me. We still need to work on that telepathic link of ours. It could be a useful thing."

He shrugged, "Hn, we should work on it later."

I nodded and left through the window, moving silently. I dodged the workers and the ordinary civilians, who seemed to be settling well into everyday life. I went to the wall that had been reserved for civilian casualties, hoping against hope I wouldn't see that name. My eyes scanned it quickly and carefully, before finally spotting it, Ha Aoi. It was one of the names given to the orphans who didn't have a family name. It was the officially documented one, but she didn't tell anyone, since they used to laugh that she was a 'Blue leaf'. I never understood how they thought it was a hurtful name. It was just that. A name. My eyes were dry, I realized. I hadn't blinked for quite some time. I blinked slowly. Then turned back to home. I mechanically made my way there, knowing I would never see the blue head in there ever again. I stopped outside my apartment block. Scratch that, none of us would ever be in that apartment ever again. The building had sustained quite a bit of damage, but our apartment, which had been on the top, had been blasted open. I used chakra to walk up there and see the damage closely. There was nothing there. All my books, all my things, gone. Remnants of charred beanbags and splintered furniture had managed to survive, but that was it. I stared at it for a long time. Just thinking. Eventually, I realized Kakashi-sensei was behind me. He crouched down, looking at the destruction. "This might not have been an accident." He finally said.

"What makes you say that?" I asked impassively

He looked seriously at me, "You know they tried to abduct you and Sasuke when you two were in the hospital after the second round."

I nodded, "Ibiki-Shishou told me."

Kakashi-sensei nodded, "But what he didn't tell you was that when they failed, they instead went after your medical records. And you have a LOT of those. We know you look into your kekkei genkai in your own free time, and Sasuke probably gave you a few scrolls on it a while back so they could have destroyed it in an attempt to get information on your kekkei genkai."

I hummed, "That makes sense actually. What happened to Orochimaru, anyways?"

He looked away, "He escaped, but severely weakened."

I nodded, "Alright then. How's the Hokage? He must've been the target of the attack, right?"

Kakashi looked downcast, "He died, protecting the village."

I looked down, "Oh. I… I see. When's the funeral?"

"A couple days from now, actually." He replied conversationally.

I nodded, "Do you know where Haku is?"

Kakashi-sensei nodded, "Yeah. He's in the hospital. Job shadowing, I think he said."

I straightened up, "I will go meet him."

He shrugged, "Alright then."

I walked back to the hospital in silence, looking around for Haku. I spotted him following a woman in a medic's uniform. Wait, no, Haku only wore kimonos and ribbons if she felt like a girl at the moment. So it was she right now.

I walked over to her, scanning her body for injuries. There were none except for a few stitches on her head. She caught my eye and turned to her superior, "I apologize, Haruno-san, but Kiyoko-senpai has need of me."

The woman looked at her and merely nodded, "Sure, just be back soon."

Haku turned towards me, "Kiyoko-senpai, it's good to see you again. Is anything wrong?"

I shook my head, "No. Not really. Just needed to check up on you."

She looked vaguely amused, "Well, I am alright. As you can see. Is there something else?"

I fingered my clan brand, "When were you a medic?" I evaded instead, as Haku guided us to the hospital's roof,

Haku's face told me she wasn't falling for my evasion but she played along, "I was always very proficient with poisons, antidotes, herbal medicine, and first aid. I'm taking up iryo-jutsu since once my probationary period is over, I'll be put into a team, and my regular skills will probably make our team unbalanced since we won't have a support member because I'm suited for things like sabotage and front line combat. But anyways, what's really happening?"

"This was Kaito's first experience with war." I confided, "He probably will wish to become a ninja now."

"Is that a bad thing?" Haku asked.

I shook my head, "Not really. No… a Summoning Scroll, especially one as prestigious as a Phoenix scroll would be very useful for Konoha. It's just… It'll put him in danger. He could die." We were alone now. I had to get this off of my chest soon, "And I don't want him to die. Aoi has already been killed. Our apartment has been completely destroyed. I'm being targeted, Sasuke's being targeted. Naruto…" I couldn't say anything, "will die eventually. People like him tend to." Nice save, "And I don't know. I know I can't be around to take care of everyone. That's what Aoi did. Sitting in the background making everything run smoothly. I can't even cook without her!" I confessed it all in a flat tone, biting back tears, willing my eyes to stay dry.

Haku made no move to comfort me, she knew physical contact tended to make things worse. "The best thing to do is make sure all your affairs are in order so you can take time to properly grieve." He reasoned, "For starters, you, Kaito and I, must look for other quarters."

I nodded, "I'll ask around. See if anyone has space."

Haku shrugged, "I'll see what money I have left from the money Zabuza used to give me. We can use it for food and clothes. We'll get through this."

I nodded, "Yeah, we will."

Today was the day of the funeral of the Third Hokage. It had been three days since the Suna-Oto Invasion, and I had spent the time helping in rebuilding and catching a couple minutes' sleep in the trees or on a bench. Kaito still hadn't recovered properly from his chakra exhaustion. He was leaning his entire body on Sakura as we listened to the mourning with our heads bowed. I had offered to support him but Sasuke had subtly guilted Sakura into doing it. Haku was doing all right, and Naruto would, undoubtedly, make a full recovery in less than a week. The only problem was me. I had woken up with a fever. It had been odd, the feeling of wanting to return to sleep. It reminded me of genjutsu or sedatives of a sort. I had never faced an illness like this. It was always completely awful, making me succumb to violent waves of vomiting and throes of chills and fever dreams. Never this gentle illness, so I took it as signs of stress and sleep deprivation. It didn't matter, I would sleep the day away once this funeral was over. I weaved slightly as the ninja started coming forward one by one to pay their respects. As soon as I stepped forward, just a little, and the whole world swayed, and I hit the floor like a ton of bricks…

POV change:

First of August, 63 AWSP

3 Days before Kaguya-chan's episode

ROOT Agent 0023156 bowed in front of Danzo-sama's desk, giving her mission report. "The Kaguya is recovering from the shock of loosing her Aoi friend. Her current mental state suggests that she is incapable of being recruited. She is too easily attached, despite her cold and reserved demeanour. The Yuki boy, on the other hand, has already been desensitised by the Kiri Black ops. Extensive mental conditioning and interrogation has led T&I to declare him a loyal citizen to Konoha. He can be easily recruited. The Kanjō clan boy, has been pushed onto the path of a shinobi but still lacks the apathy to be a good shinobi."

Danzō-sama merely waved her away, "Your mission was adequate. Your next assignment will be given to you soon enough. Leave my presence."

Root Agent Salamander bowed and left. She made her way to the wall of civilian casualties, to look at her young silver headed former target. Granted, 0023156 was younger, but that didn't matter. It was odd, why a child like her was mourning the lost civilian. Ha Aoi was just that. A civilian orphan, with no family background or skill. Her alliance with the Uchiha heir was understandable. They were both talented students. By sparring together, they could force themselves to get better. The Kanjō clan heir was useful, seeing as his special brand of chakra allowed him to gain the trust of others quicker and gain him lots of connections and influence. If she befriended him, those connections would extend to her as well. But the civilian? She was not unique. All she was was the housekeeper. The one who kept Kaguya-san on track. She was no one special, finding another mother hen friend would be easy. Granted, none of them would be ten years old, but still. She watched as the girl stood in front of it, head slightly bowed. It had been a few days since the attack, and every day, she would return and stay for the minimum of five hours. Today, the young ninja was slightly flushed and sweating, though, so maybe she had restarted training? It was better than mourning a useless child.

She felt a twinge of chakra, familiar, yet not at the same time. So, she stayed behind until the Kaguya had left, waiting for her unknown superior to confront her, probably to reprimand her for observing the target when she had been discharged from this mission. Her superior however, was not one from ROOT. It was a young man, with silver hair and most of his face hidden by a half-mask and a tilted hitai-ate. It was Hatake Kakashi. He looked balefully at her, but she was not one who could discern other's emotions very easily. "So." He began, "Danzō's been keeping an eye on her, has he? Planning to snatch her away?"

She looked away, "My mission is over. I'm not aware of what will follow afterwards."

"What's your name, then?" he asked.

"I'm nothing and no one. I don't have the liberty to indulge in names." She replied seamlessly, her training cutting in, "But I am also identified as 0023156. Or Salamander. How did you find out?"

"Too clever. Too piercing. It was obvious, in hindsight." Came the smooth reply.

She just nodded, "I meant no real harm. In the end." A pause as she tried to assimilate her words, "I didn't think the civilian would be mourned by her to this extent."

Hatake-san merely nodded, "Yeah, well. She's just an odd girl." He turned towards her, "But, Salamander? I suggest you stay away from Kiyoko, ESPECIALLY during this moment of weakness." He eye-smiled, while radiating Killing Intent potent enough to disturb her, before vanishing in a puff of smoke, leaving Salamander shaken, and –dare she say it? –terrified.

Third of August, 63 AWSP

3 Hours after Kaguya-chan's episode

Root Agent 0023156 was in shock. Well, she would've been in shock if she was capable of feeling emotions. Which she wasn't. Kaguya Kiyoko had been alright, right up until she had randomly collapsed in the funeral of the Sandaime Hokage-sama, vomiting blood. She hadn't ingested any poison. Danzo-sama couldn't have ordered a hit on her since she was loyal to Konoha so what had it been? She couldn't speak out in the defense of the girl to Danzo-sama unless she wished to be reprimanded for her insubordination and accused of having emotional attachments. Which she didn't. She felt a sudden pressure on her neck as she was hauled up from the back of her collar. "I was wondering when you'd come." She said lowly.

Hatake Kakashi's voice was dangerously cold, "I warned you, didn't I? Don't you dare go near her. What have you done to her? What is Danzo planning?"

His grip on her shirt tightened, restricting her airway, "I-I don't know. I'm so-sorry. He h-hadn't even hinted towards k-killing her. I d-don't know if th-this is his doing, but d-don't you think if I'd n-noticed she was about to be k-killed, I'd step in:"

Hatake-san put her down. "I don't know why I'm choosing to believe you." He growled. "But you should thank your lucky stars that I do, or else you'll be dead."

She released a breath. "I… deeply apologize, Hatake-san, but I don't know who did this. I wouldn't have let them do this if I knew it was gonna happen."

He glared at her, "I don't want to hear it. Just because I have no proof you don't know anything, doesn't mean Danzō doesn't have a hand in this. If I even see you near the hospital, consider yourself fucked."

She bent in a bow, "I'll keep it in mind." Before Shunshinning away.

Kiyoko: Alright, stay home and stay safe, please review, too.

Kaito: And if you feel like going over to Ibis' profile to vote for the next story, please do!