"Who?...."
The air felt thin and insufferable. Everything around me smeared into insignificance. Any words that I'd hope to say lodged in my throat, as I looked on in horror. It felt like I was having an out-of-body encounter. Like everything I was witnessing was not through my own eyes.
The village was in an abysmal condition.
Carnage.
"Captain!" I quickly spun around to find the 3 ANBU standing behind me. Although their faces were covered, their body language spoke to everything their expressions couldn't.
"What happened?" The words worming past my dry lips.
"We just made it back. How did you make it here so fast?"
"Nevermind that! The village is under attack! Follow level five security protocol, make sure all civilians are evacuated, from there protect the hokage I'll handle everything else from here on out."
"Yes!"
My eyes drifted shut.
'Bodyflicker'
When my eyes opened again I was on the roof of the hokage's residence. Tsunade stood at the center with ANBU guarding her on every side.
"What happened?"
Her head quickly snapped in my direction. The look on her face twisted in dismay. "Shiori!"Her voice rushed with relief.
"It's the Akatsuki, they've finally launched their attack."
My teeth sunk into my dried lip. The sheer force of the bite breaking the skin, the subtle taste of iron leaking onto my tastebuds.
'I should have taken care of him back in the Hidden Rain.'
I quickly moved towards the railing on the opposite side of the building. My fingers folded tightly around the ice-cold metal, nerves prickling with numbness. "I'll handle what I can."
"Be careful." Her voice, tight.
"Count on it."
Vaulting onto the rail, I propelled into the air.
I didn't get very far before I noticed a flash of bright orange hair in a film of smoke. A familiar girl stood atop the head of a large rhino-like anime. She was one of the pain puppets I had come into contact with, in the Hidden Rain. To the left of her and the rhino, stood another monstrous summoning creature, a dog with a multitude of heads. As the dust began to settle I could make out the silhouettes of six figures.
My body quickly moved into overdrive, sprinting towards the orange-haired girl. In a flash step, I catapulted forward, springing high above her and the large beast. I brought my leg came down on her shoulder, sending her and the beast deep into the ground below. The sheer force of the hit caused a massive creator and surrounding buildings to crumble. The ground splintered and shattered from the aftershocks. The summoning evaporated into a cloud of smoke. The girl laid beneath my feet. Face staring blankly up at me with spirling eyes.
"Dead already?" I mused, nudging her body with the heel of my shoe.
I turned to the large dog. The animal bared its teeth at me, growling as if to warn of an attack.
"Down boy!" I yelled.
"Shiori!!?"
I ignored the call, my eyes returning to the girl. "Since that dog of yours didn't disappear, I'd say you're still alive."
Her head tilted slightly, but she made no sound.
"Alright then, time to die."
My fingers twitched and cracked. "Dance of a thousand petals." Sparks of electricity danced in the palm of my hand. I reached out with palm facing down, microscopic bolts of lightning blitzing down, electrocuting her on a vestigial level. Her body convulsed, mouth falling open in a silent O. After a moment, her body stiffened, the last chakra finally seeping away.
"1 down 5 to go."
"Shiori?!" Shizune's voice rang in my ears.
My head cocked back, eyes raising to the rim of the creator. In a blink of an eye, I was by her side. "I see you wasted no time." She remarked, scanning me up and down with anxious eyes.
Standing behind her were Inoichi, Ibiki, Ino, and 2 ANBU members.
"Wow, Shiori, You might be more ruthless and scarier than Lady Tsunade." Ino half-heartedly joked.
"There's one more." My eyes narrowed. I could sense the unusual chakra not too far from where we stood.
'Bodyflicker.'
"Where did she go?" Ibiki questioned, peering around searching for the kunoichi.
"Knowing her... She's found another Pain." Shizune replied with a sigh.
I reappeared with another orange-haired puppet in hand.
"2 down."
"She really is something. If she wasn't so young she would be an excellent candidate for hokage." Inoichi whispered to Ibiki.
"I'd never take that position... Plus, you see how Tsunade works I'd be like her... Maybe even worse." I laughed, tossing the body aside.
Black
'What happened?' My head was beating with incomprehensible pain.
'Open your eyes.'
My eyes snapped open. A cement wall obscured my vision, shrowding me in darkness. My body wouldn't move. My left leg was caught between the cement slab and what I could make out as debris from the smashed ground. My right arm was pinned behind me, a metal pipe piercing through my forearm.
"Well, this is going to be hard to get out of."
Sharp shocks of pain radiated through my shoulder and knee. My left-hand pressed against the cool rock in front of me. With one sharp breath, I managed to push the slab off of my body. The pain that reckoned through me was beyond anything I have ever felt before. My ankle was crushed, and my shin was fractured. I quickly pulled myself off the metal pipe, my arm spewed a large amount of blood. I wedged my arm between my thighs struggling to put pressure on the gushing wound. My vision was beginning to blot, dark circles spotting everything my eyes moved to.
"Shiori!"
My head lulled to the side, everything moving in slow motion.
Ino bounded towards me, her eyes filled with concern. "Shiori! Are you okay?"
I nodded, reaching out to her with my good hand. "Help me up." My speech slurred, my mind spinning. Her hand grasped mine pulling me up to my feet. A harsh hiss seethed past my lips.
"We need to get you to Lady Tsunade."
"Just steady me."
Her arm snaked around my waist, pulling me upright as I teetered my weight on my right leg.
"Release." The byakugou seal gleamed as it stretched over my abdomen. "Creation rebirth."
The opening in my arm was beginning to regenerate the hole closing in a matter of seconds.
"Oh wow-." Her voice was swole with astonishment. "But your leg?" She questioned, her eyes moving to my mangled foot.
"That's gonna take more time." A frustrated sigh escaping me. "Unfortunately, that means I can't do anything."
"You got rid of 2 pains I think that's something to ride home about. The rest of us were no match for any of them."
"It wasn't enough. I was caught off guard by the explosion."
"Cut yourself some slack, Ibiki, my dad, Shizune, me, and the ANBU would have been killed if you didn't make it there in time."
I nodded.
"Ino, hold onto me. I am going to take us to Tsunade."
"Wait... How are you going to do--"
'Bodyflicker.'
"What?! How!?"
"It's a teleportation jutsu."
"Oh..." Her voice trailed off.
"Shiori what happened?" Tsunade's voice boomed as she rushed over to me.
"I am fine. More importantly, what's going on?"
"Naruto made it back." Her eyes sparkled. Her voice was filled a hope that radiated, bathing me in a sea of relief.
"Thank goodness."