𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 | 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨 [HEAVY EDITING]

𝟑𝟗 | 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭! 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐯𝐬. 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢

Everything is a mess. There are loud noises echoing through the short forest we travel quickly through, coming from across the village. I was right after all. This is an attack on us.

I gesture for Sasuke to stop for a moment and kneel down to sift my hand through the loose soil in different parts.

"What are you doing?" he asks me, panting.

"Making sure we're on the right track," I explain, finally brushing my hands clean from the dirt. "We need to head a little more northwest from here; they've changed their route, but they're moving slower."

We start running again. "How do you know how to do that?"

"Uh... my brother told me it's called being a Sensory type. That I can sense and track chakra. I can do that."

"I thought you didn't have any other family alive," he says.

"I thought that, too." We jump over a large root. "I apparently have two brothers and another grandmother." I... leave out the fact that I have a whole clan attached to my name, too, now. It just seems a little cruel right now. "When this is all over, would you meet my brothers?"

"... yeah." I offer a smile of thanks, but it feels a little forced considering the current situation. "Come on." Sasuke gestures upward before jumping into the trees above us. I follow after him, a hand pressed to my middle where one of my surgery scars are—beneath the skin, I'm already aching.

Gotta keep up, I tell myself. But I'm finding that it's a little harder when Gaara's chakra is suffocating me. It's like sleeping with a thick woolen blanket over your face in the summertime – I can't breathe. Not to mention, I think something's awakened in me, because I'm sensing chakra from all over the place, not just Gaara's and Sasuke's.

It's only minutes later that those Sand Siblings come into our view. Of course, with them still being this close to us, something's up.

When I push off a branch, I feel something snag and stick to the bottom of my shoe. Jumping midair, I look back behind me to find a trip wire, and dozens of paper seals stuck to the tree—and to me.

"Paper bombs!!" I call out. I'm quick to rip it off my shoe and whip it against the next tree we pass—and just in time, too. It's barely three seconds later that it detonates, tearing the bark from the tree and sending heat against my back. Post my narrow escape, Sasuke's stopped at the second tree away, eyes wide and shouting my name over the explosions. "I'm fine!" I shout back. "Just keep going!!"

But instead, he jumps away from the branch he stands on to grab my arm and drag us back down toward the ground.

"Whoa!" The trees above us explode once more. We lower our heads, protecting our eyes from the falling debris, only to find more paper seals. "Move!" We jump back into the trees before our feet can get blown up.

"Well, that was close," Sasuke pants, his arms dangling as he hangs upside down off the branch.

"Agreed," I huff, squatting down on the same branch the right way up, "but look! They're still in our view!"

Suddenly, Sasuke's bolting foward, racing across the tree line and throwing a kunai next to Temari's head. I follow after him, pacing myself since he's managed to get them to pause in their retreat.

"We finally caught you," I hear him say when I approach.

"You don't think we'd let you get away after this, do you?" I add, masking my exhausted breaths.

"Oh, jeez," Kankurō says, and he shifts Gaara's weight over onto his other shoulder.

"If it isn't Sasuke Uchiha and the Snow brat," Temari seethes.

"That's Leaf brat, to you," I correct her.

"This is as far as you guys go," Sasuke says, pulling out a second kunai.

The one day I don't have my stuff and the whole village is attacked, I think spitefully, extending my hand out to Sasuke. "Gimme one," I hiss, and he does.

"So!" Kankurō calls to us. "What are you gonna do, huh?" Temari jumps off her branch and flings her own kunai at us. I leap to deflect it, sending it flying into another tree.

"Go, Kankurō, and get Gaara away from here. I'll take care of these two."

"Don't be a fool, Temari," Kankurō says. "You know these two are too much for you to handle all by yourself!"

"Don't argue!" she snaps. "Our mission is to make sure that Gaara is safe. He's our first and only priority." Temari smirks down at us. "Don't worry about me; this is what I've been waiting for."

Kankurō nods and begins jumping from branch to branch in the other direction.

"No, you don't!" Sasuke shouts after them. He pulls out his shuriken and flings them at his retreating form. They miss, and we're about to give chase, when Temari blocks our path. I huff.

"If I distract her, you can go after them," I whisper at Sasuke, snagging a couple of more of his kunai.

"We shouldn't split up," he says, shaking his head at me. "You just got out of the hospital—you won't be able to hold her off for long."

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" I say. "Besides, she doesn't have much chakra left since her battle with Shikamaru." Temari takes her fan off her back and opens it to swing it at as. We leap back into another tree, hiding behind the trunk. "Sasuke, I'm fine to do this; I promise. Let me help you."

"I—" he pauses. "You're really sure about this," he decides on.

"Go!" I insist, pushing him toward my intended path. I turn and jump out the other way, weaving my fingers together on my way toward Temari. She raises her fan once more, preparing to use another Jutsu, but I intercept her effort, a finger curled around my lips.

"Fire Style – Fireball Jutsu!"

I feel the heat pass my hand, but I don't get burned this time. This time, the fire zips through the treeline, aiming for Temari and her fan. I hear her shout out in surprise and through the light of the flame, see her attempt to escape. And she does, just as I'd expected. She wouldn't want to get her main weapon, her paper weapon, to get damaged. And her avoiding this attack gives me the chance to dish out the actual one.

From the thin branch of the tree that she'd taken refuge on, I swing myself down, watching as she turns in time for me to land a direct hit on her, with both of my feet connecting with her chest. The amount of force I'd just put into the kick gets a sharp cry out of her, and sends her flying back down toward the earth, her fan tumbling down with her. Another noise of pain when she hits the ground. I jump down, myself, landing beside her.

For a moment, I watch her wince. "Whatever happens from here on out, and if you decide to get up from here, it'll be your own faults. You people interrupted Sasuke's match and attacked the Lord Hokage. I have no sorries to give."

Updated June 13th, 2022 | 1,227 words