Hi everyone :)
Sorry for taking so long to upload, life is INSANELY busy nowdays for some reason :/ But I made ths chapter a bit longer than usual to make up for it.
I've been asked this question quite a lot by people, so I thought I'd put the answer here. Yes, STWF will be going all the way up to the war, and no doubt even after it. I MAY need to start a new book if it goes on for too long, coz I think Wattpad has a 100 chapter limit. We'll see :3
Song on the side is Here For You by the Prince of Classic Rock, Ozzy Osbourne ;)
--Jon Bon Jovi is the King, just fyi :P --
Pic of Deidara :D --->
Third Person’s POV
“Sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi…..”
Said silver haired man inclines his head, standing in the doorway of the wooden house Yamato had created, and eyes the four people before him coolly.
A man with brown, spiked back hair stands at the front of the small group, the mask on his face reminiscent of a bird. Behind him, three other men, donning the same uniforms and animal like masks, walk forwards and nod their heads in greeting.
As one of the men squats down and rests his arms over his knees, Kakashi notices the two swords strapped to his back, crossed over each other to form the shape of an x.
Subtly glancing between the three other men, Kakashi spies an assortment of weapons strapped and hidden on their bodies, with one of them even having spiked, knuckle dusters on his right hand.
Partnered with their aloof vibes and muscular appearances, it wouldn’t be hard for anyone at all to know that these four men were members of the ANBU Black Ops, and elite ones at that.
“You’re actually a little early” Kakashi eventually replies in an indifferent tone, turning his head to glance back at his fellow Leaf Ninja, “I don’t think we’re quite ready to leave yet.”
The four ANBU Black Ops members look inside the door as well, watching as Tenten hastily shoves things in her bag, sitting on her knees with her tongue poking out the side of her mouth. Ino briefly appears in view, fluffing her hair and wincing as the movement causes pain in her injured arm.
Naruto strolls into the wooden hallway, adjusting the straps of his backpack, before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms, eyes focused down on the floor. Kiba and Akamaru then enter the room as well, with the Inuzuka scuffing his feet, hands stuffed in his pockets.
“While we wait” the first ANBU speaks up in his deep voice, “Perhaps you can fill us in on what’s been going on here for the last few days?”
“Good idea” Kakashi agrees, holding in his sigh as he sees the miserable looks on Kiba and Naruto’s faces. “I’ll try to make a long, complicated story short for you guys…”
That said, Kakashi steps out into the crisp, early morning air and closes the wooden door behind him with a soft clunk.
“So…..He just disappeared then?” Kiba asks doubtfully, arms crossed as he looks down at the empty futon on the floor.
Sakura nods her slowly, brows furrowing with confusion as she too stares down at the small bed, hands resting on her knees. Ino purses her lips in thought, before looking to Tenten beside her, as the brunette shrugs her shoulders.
“I don’t see how Yukimaru could even move in his condition” Shizune sighs softly, kneeling in front of the futon, “Let alone disappear in the middle of the night.”
“Hey Naruto” Kiba addresses, turning his attention to the blonde fiddling with his backpack in the corner of the room, “You were right here in the room with Yukimaru. Didn’t you see anything?”
“’Fraid not” is the lack lustre reply, with Naruto not even bothering to turn around.
“Heh” Kiba scoffs, smirking despite his dispirited mood, “Some Ninja you are, but what can you expect from a Genin?”
“Shut up” Naruto mutters irritably, rolling his eyes as he stuffs a familiar black cloth into his backpack. Now wasn’t the time to bring it up, and he didn’t want to bring Kiba’s mood down any further, despite how annoying the Inuzuka was being.
“You slept right through it too anyway” Naruto adds pointedly, glancing back as Kiba takes a step forwards.
“So?” the tall brunette challenges, clenching his fist. “I’m not the one who claims to be Mister Super Stamina, and besides, you were the one sitting right next to the kid all night!”
“Stop it you two!” Sakura barks, before momentarily closing her eyes. “I get that you two are upset about the events that have taken place in the last few days, but arguing isn’t going to help.”
“Yukimaru doesn’t have anywhere to go” Hinata speaks up quietly, hands clasped together in a nervous way. “H-He could be anywhere by now….”
“We must find him!” Lee exclaims determinedly, sitting beside Yukimaru’s bed.
“There’s no need for that” Shino speaks up, leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room. “We were only interested in the boy because of his ability to control the Three Tails. Now that he’s lost these powers, he’s no longer our concern….”
“His powers are not the issue here!” Lee argues nobly, rushing over to Shino. “We cannot just-”
“Shino’s right Lee” Kakashi interrupts, strolling past the room and gesturing towards the front door. “It’s not our job to go chasing after runaways.”
“Besides” Yamato pipes up, following after Kakashi, “Lady Tsunade has given us our orders, and the relief team is already here.”
“Yes but….” Lee trails off, before looking to Naruto for back up. “Naruto, help me out! Do you agree with them?”
“Yep” is the blonde’s breezy reply as he walks right past Lee. “Nothin we can do about it. Don’t worry, he’ll be alright.”
Everyone blinks in confusion at Naruto’s unenthusiastic reply. He’d seen so keen on helping Yukimaru before, so what had changed his tune all of the sudden?
“Naruto?” Sakura questions, her green eyes wide, as Kiba merely rolls his and leans down to lift up his backpack.
“Who knows where the kid ran off to?” the Inuzuka mutters as he exits the room, shoulders a little hunched. “Maybe he disappeared to join the Akatsuki too.”
“Poor Kiba-kun” Hinata sighs sadly, exchanging worried glances with Ino, Sakura and Tenten. “He seems so down.”
“Can’t say I really blame him I guess” Ino says with a shrug, an unsure look in her eyes. “He says he thinks Ashley’s only pretending, but I bet he’s worried that she’s really not.”
“Team Seven just keeps getting smaller and smaller…..” Sakura murmurs, eyes wavering for a moment, before the girl straightens up and walks out of the room, with the other Leaf Ninja in tow.
“But Kakashi Sensei!” the pinkette hears a frustrated voice yelling. “Ashley’s still out there, I’m sure of it-”
“I’m sure of it too Kiba” the silver haired man interrupts coolly, raising a hand to silence the fuming Inuzuka that had decided to get in his face all of the sudden. “But our orders don’t involve chasing after traitors either.”
“She’s not a traitor!” Kiba shouts angrily, eyes blazing. “She’s just…..It’s…..It’s just an act! I know it’s not real, and we need to save her!”
“She doesn’t want to be saved Kiba” Yamato speaks up, standing just to Kakashi’s right. “Didn’t you see the way she was behaving? She attacked us, and she attacked you as well. She’ll be lucky if those ANBU don’t find her and drag her back to the Village to be charged with betrayal-”
“That’s not gonna happen!” Kiba snarls, launching himself towards Yamato in anger. Though he wasn’t angry with Yamato in particular, Kiba wasn’t too happy to hear the ANBU say something like that. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if the ANBU Black Ops somehow managed to catch Ashley, though the Inuzuka doubted she’d make it easy for them.
Shino and Sakura managed to catch hold of both of Kiba’s arms, struggling to hold the riled up male back. Kiba growls under his breath and glares at Yamato, with a bead of sweat dripping down the older man’s forehead.
Not that he feared Kiba would over power him, but he hadn’t meant to provoke the young teen, and he certainly hadn’t expected Kiba to try and attack him.
“You’re right Kiba” Kakashi speaks up gently, trying to calm him down. “That won’t happen.”
“What do you mean Kakashi Sensei?” Sakura questions, not letting her grip on Kiba’s arm loosen at all. “Once those ANBU know that she’s working with the Akatsuki-”
“….I didn’t tell them about Ashley” Kakashi admits quietly, looking a little troubled with his decision. He reaches up and runs a hand through his hair, as a few of the younger Leaf Ninja stare at him through wide, surprised eyes.
“Why not?” Ino asks in a whisper, unsure if Kakashi had done the right thing or not. Surely if you knew of a Leaf Ninja that had turned traitorous, you were supposed to report them, no matter how much you cared for them.
“I don’t really know” Kakashi laughs half heartedly, straightening up. “I’d rather talk to Lady Tsunade first, to see what course of action she wants to take……Hopefully if Ashley has a run in with those ANBU, she’ll have her mask on….”
Kiba stares at Kakashi for a few more moments, before abruptly jerking his arms away from Sakura and Shino. He reaches up and grabs onto the straps of his backpack, teeth gritted tightly together.
While he didn’t at all want to leave without Ashley, he was thankful that Kakashi had at least kept this information from the ANBU. He didn’t want to see her stuck in prison, even if she had attacked him earlier….
The thing that confused the Inuzuka though, was the fact that she’d paused when he’d gotten hurt. She’d been so determined to lose him in the forest, and hadn’t stopped her Wolves from attempting to stop him…..But when he actually had gotten hurt, she’d stopped and turned around to look at him.
In that second she’d stared at him, Kiba had seen a strange look on her face and in her eyes. Though her beautiful face had been stone cold, the girl’s eyes had held such a look of confliction in them, as if unsure about what she should do.
While it wasn’t much to go on, that one second had given Kiba a huge spark of hope inside. Maybe Ashley hadn’t completely forgotten about him. She said she felt nothing towards him, but surely she wouldn’t have reacted that way if her words were true?
“Alright guys” Kakashi calls out, catching everyone’s attentions. “It’s time to head out. We’re going back to the Leaf Village.”
Lifting his head as he and the other Leaf Ninja traipse out into the forest, Kiba turns his head in the direction of the lake and has a quick smell of the air. Nothing.
‘I’ll bring you back home Angel’ the Inuzuka thinks, leaves and twigs crunching underfoot. ‘And then everyone will see that it was all just an act.’
Ashley stands at the edge of the lake, staring down sullenly at her reflection. The blank face of her black and white Wolf mask stares back, its image rippling and waving with the gentle movements of the lake water.
The blonde girl tilts her head to the side, as the wavering reflection of her Wolf mask seems to smile at her one second, and then bare its teeth the next. Dropping her eyes a little, Ashley looks at the bare spot on her neck, where her Leaf Village headband used to sit like a choker-style necklace.
It seemed strange not to have it there anymore, as if she were missing something, but at the same time, Ashley felt somewhat lighter. She now had no branding on her, except for the two tattoos on her hips, but it wasn’t like they were on display. And besides, she was damn proud of those tattoos! They signified the two Clans that she belonged to, not who was ruling over her.
Although, now that she thought about it, Ashley wasn’t going to have anything to carve a slash mark through now that she’d thrown her headband at Naruto….
“Dammit…” Ashley sighs heavily, hanging her head and stomping her foot on the dirt. “Now what am I supposed to-”
Ashley’s head immediately snaps up at the sound of a sudden, resounding boom to her far right. She watches as a thick cloud of smoke rises into the air from a large tree, with burning pieces of wood now raining down from the air.
“What the…….” Ashley trails off, narrowing her eyes at the rising smoke, before taking off along the embankment at a swift pace, her knee no longer bothering her. “What’s going on over there?.....”
The ANBU member scribbles something down on a piece of paper, with his brown haired teammate standing on the branch above his head.
“Kakashi said the Three Tails was in this lake” the brown haired ANBU comments, skimming the water with his keen eyes, “But it doesn’t look like there’s anything down there. It’s too calm.”
“You’re right” the second ANBU agrees, quickly tucking the paper back up his sleeve and placing a hand on his hip. “But he also said that it can disappear into another dimens- Hey…..Look down there. It’s a kid.”
“Huh?” the brown haired ANBU asks, leaning forwards a little. Following the direction his teammate is pointing in, the brunette suddenly spies a short looking figure in a black cloak, standing on the embankment of the lake and almost perfectly hidden beneath the over hanging trees.
“Think we should go check it out?” the ANBU with the paper asks, looking up. “It could be that kid Kakashi was talking about.”
“Yeah, let’s go” the brown haired ANBU agrees, nodding as he points at the lake, “But be careful of that fog that’s rolling in. Yamato mentioned something about it being able to drag people into powerful Genjutsu. It’s one of the Three Tails’ special techniques.”
“Hm, interesting” an amused voice whispers in the ANBU’s ears, causing him to freeze. “I didn’t know that.”
Quickly recovering from their shock, the two ANBU Black Ops members whirl around and leap backwards, eyeing their surprise visitor with stony reserve. They certainly hadn’t expected anyone to be able to sneak up on them so easily.
“What’s this?” the second ANBU asks under his breath, taking in the smirking blonde before him. “A black cloak with red clouds?...Huh?”
Feeling something on his shoulder, the Leaf Shinobi turns his head, only to find himself staring into the pale face of a large, clay spider. Before he has so much as a chance to react however, Deidara brings up one hand and performs a hand sign, causing the spider to violently explode.
Deidara jumps down from the tree he’d been standing in, as the two ANBU’s bodies are shredded, along with the tree branches around them. Smirking as a cloud of dust rises into the air, with bark and blood raining down around him, Deidara turns his head just as Ashley skids to a halt a few metres away from him.
She slowly glances around, her gaze settling on the shattered mask of the brown haired ANBU, just a couple of steps away from her. After a few moments of just staring down at the mask, Ashley slowly raises her head, eyes now fixed on Deidara, though the teen can’t see them behind her mask.
“What’s the matter?” Deidara asks teasingly. “Did I just kill one of your old friends? Hope you’re not feeling too broken hearted over there hm.”
Balling her hands into fists and gritting her teeth to keep from snapping at the young Akatsuki member, Ashley marches over to the charred remains of the ANBU’s mask and stomps on it. The thin material shatters under foot, leaving tiny shards of red and white across the blood stained dirt.
“I see” Deidara muses, his visible blue eye flashing in the light. Clearly he was enjoying himself, if the look of nasty mirth on his face was anything to go by….
“You ditched me” Ashley growls lowly, only to be interrupted before she can continue with her accusation.
“As expected Deidara Senpai” a jolly voice cheers, as Tobi appears from out of the trees, clapping his hands, “That was wonderful! Now that the ANBU Black Ops are gone, let’s fill our quota while we’ve got the chance!”
His face dropping into an irritated frown, Deidara turns away and drops a small, clay animal on the ground. He then performs a hand sign, causing the white figure to suddenly turn into a large, eagle-like sculpture.
“You’re about a hundred years too young to be ordering me around Tobi” Deidara scoffs, jumping onto the bird’s back.
Hopping from foot to foot restlessly, Tobi raises an arm as Deidara’s clay bird flaps its long wings and rises into the air.
“B-But wait!” Tobi calls frantically. “Remember what they said about that fog causing halluci-”
“Who do you think you’re talking to you fool?” Deidara demands to know, casting Tobi an exasperated look over his shoulder. “I can handle it!”
The black haired male’s shoulders slump as Deidara flies towards the lake, fiddling with the bags of clay strapped to his hips.
“Well his temper hasn’t changed any….” Tobi sighs heavily, before turning his head and looking over at Ashley, who has suddenly appeared right next to him with her arm pulled back.
Without so much as a word, Ashley throws her arms forwards, her balled up fist connecting painfully with Tobi’s chin and sending the male rocketing backwards with a yelp. His back slams heavily into a tree, causing numerous leaves and a small branch to fall down from it.
“Wh-What was th-that for Ashley-chan?” Tobi asks dizzily, his head lolling from side to side as Ashley cracks her knuckles and turns around.
“I just really needed to hit something” is the short reply. “……I didn’t know there were ANBU Black Ops here.”
“Are you sad that Deidara Senpai killed them?” Tobi asks eagerly, popping up right in front of Ashley and causing her head to snap up with surprise. That had been a quick recovery!
“How are you.....” Ashley trails off, eyes narrowing at Tobi suspiciously as he fidgets around in front of her, anxious for her answer. “No, I’m not sad. I didn’t even know them anyway.”
“But they’re from your Village” Tobi argues, tilting his head to the side.
“So?” Ashley challenges, deciding to walk after Deidara. “Just because we were part of the same Village doesn’t make us friends or anything.”
“Yes” Tobi agrees, nodding wisely as he marches alongside a stone faced Ashley, “I suppose that you could hate someone from your own Village. Probably even enough to murder them!”
Here Ashley pauses, turning her head to give the now humming Tobi an incredulous look behind her mask.
“I never said I hated those ANBU you idiot” Ashley growls, jogging to catch up with the older male, who is now skipping merrily. “I didn’t know them, but I didn’t hate them! And I didn’t want to murder them either.”
“It’s a good thing Deidara Senpai did it for you then” Tobi sings. “Don’t worry Ashley-chan, I won’t tell him that you care about those ANBU dying. I suppose it will take you awhile to get used to our evil ways.”
“I can do evil Tobi” Ashley defends herself vehemently. “Murder is nothing to me, it’s just….Stop twisting my words!”
Feeling frustrated with Tobi’s confusing logic, Ashley picks up her pace and sprints towards Deidara, who is now hovering over the lake.
“What exactly are you planning to do here?” the girl calls out, the hem of her cloak billowing out behind her as she races easily across the water’s surface. “The Three Tails has probably hidden itself in another dimension already!”
“I’m well aware of that possibility hm” Deidara replies coolly, turning slightly and holding out his hands, palms facing the sky.
Coming to s stop beside the shadow that Deidara’s bird is casting on the lake, Ashley squints up at the blonde male to see what he’s holding. From her position down below him, it looked like Deidara was holding out a squishy, white pile of goo.
“Seeing as this lake is so large and I can’t be bothered searching the whole thing” the smirking Akatsuki member continues, “It’ll be much easier to make the beast come to me.”
Ashley’s eyes widen as she watches Deidara release the white thing in his hands, only to realise that it was a large pile of clay spider-like figures. They rain down around Ashley, hitting the water with soft plinking sounds and flicking their legs around as they sink into the depths.
Quickly figuring out what Deidara is about to do, Ashley bends her knees and leaps high into the air. Within a second of Ashley’s feet leaving the lake, pillars of water begin exploding up into the air, as Deidara’s tiny bombs violently burst beneath the surface.
Doing a front flip in mid air, Ashley manages to land atop Deidara’s clay bird on one knee, before turning her head to glare at said male from beneath her mask.
“You could’ve warned me you were gonna do that” the Minami growls, rising to her feet and shaking her head vigorously, to try and rid her hair of the water that had soaked it.
“If you weren’t smart enough to avoid that” Deidara replies, amused as he glances back over his shoulder, “Then I figured you wouldn’t have been smart enough to make it in the Akatsuki hm.”
As Ashley grows an anime vein and tries to control her temper, a furious roar suddenly echoes through the air, causing the two blondes to turn their heads around to the front.
Rearing up out of the water before them, the Three Tailed Beast glares at them angrily and waves its powerful tails around in an agitated manner. It had thought its troubles were finally over, but it appeared that the humans wanted to torment it some more…
“You’ve been doing such a great job so far Deidara Senpai!” a childish voice calls from below, Tobi having suddenly appeared on the lake. “I think I’ll just let you finish it off by yourself!”
“You wanted to be in the Akatsuki Tobi” Deidara calls back, just to annoy his dark haired partner, “So you can handle this hm.”
“What?!” Tobi squeals in disbelief, a chill running up his spine when the Sanbi slowly turns its head and fixes its steely, one eyed gaze on his face. “Ayyaaaaaahhhhh!”
Raising an eyebrow behind her mask, Ashley pushes herself to her feet and watches as Tobi desperately dashes in the opposite direction to her, with the Three Tails immediately giving chase. Deidara, clearly unimpressed, merely crosses his arms and sighs, a sweat drop on the side of his head.
“Heeeeeeeelp!” Tobi cries out in a panic, throwing his arms in the air. “It’s gaining on me!”
“What a moron….” Ashley mutters, shoulders slumping, before she straightens up and gives Deidara a critical eye. “If I help you guys catch this thing, I get to be in the Akatsuki right?”
“It will certainly help your cause hm” Deidara replies off apathetically, “But I can’t make you any promises.”
“Well, any chance is better than no chance….” Ashley mutters, her mouth pulling up to the side as she crouches down on the clay bird and sizes up the Three Tails in her head.
While it was true that the Three Tails, along with any Tailed Beast, had an extensive reserve of chakra and incredible strength, it was slow and unintelligent, due to having no host. If Ashley could just dodge its attacks, she should be able to get close enough to attack the creature and capture it. It all sounded good and easy in theory, but she was going to have to put these thoughts into practise of course….
“This thing is a water creature!” Tobi shouts, still running as the Three Tails gains on him. “I’m totally not the right match for it! Shouldn’t we have assigned this job is Kisame or, or….anybody else?!”
“Truly pitiful” Deidara mutters, giving Ashley a deadpan look as she nods her head and silently slides off of his bird’s back. “Hopefully you won’t be as much of an embarrassment hm.”
Ashley scowls to herself as she falls down towards the water, hair blowing up above her. Deidara had seen her fight quite a few times, the three or four times she’d run into the blonde and Sasori during her mission from Lady Tsunade. He knew she’d fare better than Tobi!
Just as it passes right below her, Ashley lands on the Three Tails’ armoured back in a crouched position, the sudden change in direction almost causing her to slide right off. The girl quickly focuses chakra into her feet, to keep from falling from the Sanbi’s back, before activating her Katsuryoku and lifting her arms up into the air.
Obeying the Minami’s will, two pillars of water snake up from the lake, winding through the air as they follow Ashley’s hand movements. Lowering her arms down to chest height, Ashley then jabs both hands forwards, as if pushing at an invisible wall.
The two streams of water rocket forwards, and as Ashley gracefully begins moving her arms again, the water pillars begin to bend and twist, wrapping themselves around the Three Tails’ neck.
Quickly grabbing the tail ends of the water streams, Ashley leaps down from the Sanbi’s back and tugs them backwards with all of her might. The blonde leans back as she throws all of her weight into pulling the Three Tails back, heels digging into the water. She scrunches her eyes closed and grits her teeth as she is forcibly pulled along behind the Sanbi, though it throws its head back and roars angrily, slowing down a little.
Not bothering to cast Ashley a glance, the Sanbi raises one of its colossal tails into the air above Ashley, causing the girl to gasp. As the tail is about to slam into her, Ashley throws up one of her arms, which causes numerous jets of water to come shooting up out of the lake. They entwine themselves around the Sanbi’s three tails, binding them together in an attempt to render them useless.
Keeping one arm up in the air and one hand tightly attached to the water stream around the Sanbi’s neck, Ashley can’t help breaking out into a sweat. Though she was able to control all elements, something few Minami could manage to do, Ashley wasn’t an expert in any one element. While she may have been able to keep this up for quite awhile if Ace was helping her, controlling so much water at one time would be no problem for someone like Saffire, who had practised only water control since she was a young child.
Right now Ashley was jealous. If she was as efficient in controlling water as Saffire, or better yet, her own Mother, this Three Tails wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Huh?” Ashley exhales sharply, her arms trembling from the strain of holding the Three Tails. Tilting her head back, the Minami’s eyes widen in shock as she sees the Sanbi’s tail burst free of their watery bindings, causing it to rain down right on top of Ashley.
“Uh oh” is all the blonde says, before the Sanbi sweeps one of its tails at her, slamming into Ashley and throwing her high into the air. Feeling as though she’d just run into a wall at top speed, Ashley hurtles up higher and higher, somersaulting into the sky.
Cracking her eyes open, Ashley sees the Three Tails now looking up at her, a bright orb of light forming in front of its jaws.
The girl’s eyes widen again, and she hastily slaps her hands together to perform a swift set of hand signs.
“Summoning Jutsu!” Ashley cries, just as the Three Tails shoots a chakra enhanced ball of water upwards and she is enveloped in a cloud of smoke.
“Fang Over Fang!” Ashley then shouts, before a vicious miniature tornado spears through the smoke cloud and crashes right into the oncoming water bomb. After only a moment of the two attacks pushing against each other, the tornado drills straight through the Sanbi’s Jutsu and rockets down towards its face.
Managing to turn at the last second, the Three Tails screeches as the tornado rips into the shell over its right shoulder. Ashley is then ejected from the tornado, bouncing across the lake on her side and coming to a stop right on the embankment.
She lays there for a moment, groaning, before slowly raising her head and placing a hand to it.
“Milady!” a deep voice calls, before the small tornado abruptly stops spinning, leaving Jet to fall from the Three Tails’ back and run over to Ashley. “Are you alright?”
“Joo, olen kunnossa” Ashley manages to grunt, as Jet helps her into a sitting position. “The Three Tails’ armour is so dense, I don’t think I used enough chakra and I ricocheted right off…..Ahh, my head hurts……” (Yeah, I’m fine)
“It is strong armour to be sure….” Jet mutters, standing beside Ashley as the girl climbs to her feet and tries to shake her pain off. “I don’t believe we left much of a scratch on it. Perhaps a more finely concentrated point is needed?”
“The Three Tails lives in the water Jet” Ashley reminds the hulking animal, knowing what he means. “I doubt it will do much damage.”
“You underestimate me Milady” Jet smirks, golden eyes flashing as he tilts his head down to look at Ashley. “Minä tuhoantämä olento.” (I will destroy this creature)
“Maybe don’t destroy it Jet” Ashley suggests, a wolfish smirk on her face. “We still need it for the Akatsuki to seal away.”
Jet pauses at this information, ears folding back and eyes losing their sparkle for a moment. He turns his head slightly, to try and hide his clear disapproval.
“Olinunohtanutsyytaistelevattämä peto.....” the Wolf murmurs, before heaving a sigh. (I had forgotten your reason for fighting this beast.....)
Trying her best to ignore the disappointed tone in Jet’s voice, Ashley steps forwards onto the lake and glares over at the Three Tails, which is still chasing the squealing Tobi.
“Tehdään se Suihkukone” Ashley orders, to which she and Jet both break out into a sprint. (Let’s do it Jet)
Jet remains stony and silent as he runs alongside Ashley, making the girl feel somewhat unsure of what he could be thinking. He’d been fine up until she’d mentioned the Akatsuki, but now……Having known Jet for about ten years, Ashley could just feel that his whole attitude has suddenly changed.
As Ashley glances at Jet from the corner of his eye, she seems him suddenly become enveloped in a thick casing of water, the clear liquid spinning around him.
“Good luck my friend” Ashley encourages, in the hopes of diffusing Jet’s negative mood change. The large Wolf turns his head and looks down at Ashley through narrowed, golden eyes, accusing her of something she couldn’t quite understand.
Without so much as a word, Jet surges forwards and leaps into the air, pouring his chakra into the water surrounding him. It begins to spin more and more wildly, the front end sharpening into a pointed tip and making Jet look like a watery torpedo.
With a snarl, Jet clashes with the Three Tails, having aimed at the same spot he’d hit before. The Wolf bares his teeth as he drills into the Sanbi’s side, pushing as hard as he can to crack the beast’s armour.
Watching from the lake below Jet, Ashley’s eyes widen when the Three Tails comes to a stop and raises one of its tails, screeching angrily.
“Jet look out!” Ashley cries, only to watch in horror as her Wolf is thrashed with the Sanbi’s tail, causing him to rocket down into the water. “Jet!”
Bounding over the water speedily, Ashley ignores the Three Tails as it begins turning around, wanting to face its new attackers.
The young Minami raises her arms up into the air, and within a matter of seconds, Jet appears above the surface, eyes closed. Ashley drops to her knees and carefully places a hand on either side of Jet’s face, examining the blood dripping from his jaws.
Almost giving the Minami a fright, Jet’s eyes suddenly fly open, and his lips pull back into a soft growl. He pulls his head out of Ashley’s hands and rises to his feet, shaking himself and glaring up at the approaching Three Tails.
“Suihkukone, oletko kunnossa?” the blonde girl asks, placing a hand on her knee and rising up. (Jet, are you alright?)
Ashley always found that when she was around Jet, she’d speak in Susikiel alot more often than she normally did. It was just a habit she’d gotten into, as Jet himself often spoke in the almost forgotten tongue. He’d once said that it was accidental and he’d try to stop, but Ashley had caught him on many an occasion trying to teach Susikiel to Chi.
The Minami knew that Jet felt more comfortable speaking in their Mother tongue, and she guessed that she just subconciously tried to accomodate him. Not that she minded of course. She was proud of her Clan’s language, and she was happy to use it whenever she needed to.
“Älä tuhlaahuoliminua” Jet eventually replies in his deep voice, licking the blood from his mouth. “Use it on that Three Tails. My attack didn’t do much damage to it. (Don’t waste your concern on me)
“……..” Ashley remains silent for a moment, still unsure of the tone in Jet’s voice. “Maybe we’re going about this all wrong?”
“Well, while you figure a new strategy out” Jet says, stepping forwards as water once again begins swirling around his body, “I’ll attack it again!”
“Jet wait!” Ashley calls, throwing out a hand as Jet gallops towards the Three Tails, head on. “We should try another attack together!....What is he.....”
Narrowing her eyes at Jet, who is barely visible underneath the spinning vortex of water around him, Ashley sees a bright blue light forming in front of his mouth.
“Hmm….It could work….” the blonde mutters, as Jet leaps into the air and begins to spin violently. “His Wolf Style Rasengan is perfectly refined and even stronger than Ace’s…..”
While Ace may have been the first of Ashley’s Wolves to learn the Wolf Style Rasengan from Keilor, Ace’s special ability was the Katsuryoku. He wasn’t as adept with chakra as the other Pack members were, though his progress still impressed Ashley. Kai had been the third member to learn the Rasengan, though his was a lot more explosive and dangerous to himself, due to the fact that he would run into the enemy with it, rather than shooting it at them. The reckless Wolf felt that there was more power behind the attack if he was the moving force behind it.
Jet on the other hand, had the ability to use Jutsu of any and all affinities, and Keilor’s version of the Rasengan had come to him quite easily.
A thunderous boom suddenly rips through the air, snapping Ashley out of her thoughts and causing her to look up.
The Three Tails thrashes about in the water angrily, as Jet flies backwards through the sky, having been blown away when his Rasengan exploded.
Reacting quickly, Ashley performs rapid hand signs and throws one arm up above her head. Her flesh swiftly transforms into bark and stretches high up into the air. Branches then sprout from Ashley’s arm, quickly bending and snaking through the air towards Jet. They securely wrap themselves around the Wolf’s torso, before Ashley’s arm retracts back towards her, bringing Jet to a safe rest on the lake.
As the branches unwind themselves from Jet’s body and Ashley’s arm turns back into flesh, Jet cracks an eye open.
“That was reckless Suihkukone” Ashley sighs with relief, using the Wolf’s Susikiel name. “I’m glad you’re alright though.”
“Are you?” Jet asks doubtfully, pulling a face as he slowly climbs to his feet. Feeling a little dizzy, Jet avoids eye contact with Ashley, taking her silence as shock. He wasn’t trying to be rude, but he couldn’t help it. The more he thought about the situation, the madder Jet was getting.
Ashley stares at Jet in disbelief, her eyes wide behind her mask. What did he mean by are you? What was his problem?!
“Are you serious?” Ashley hisses, hands balling into fists. “What do you mean by am I glad you’re alright? Of course I am!”
“We need to defeat this creature” Jet states flatly, ignoring Ashley’s words and the way she growls under her breath. “I have an idea. Water conducts electricity, so we should blast it with a powerful electrical attack.”
“Genius….” Ashley mutters sarcastically, though Jet expertly ignores it. The way he was talking to Ashley, he probably deserved one or two sarcastic remarks.
“Your Water Style: Wolf Drilling attack would be a perfect Jutsu to combine with some electricity” Ashley then continues, to which Jet snorts and shakes his head.
“You’re not covering me in electricity while I’m surrounded by a water veil” the black Wolf informs Ashley. “You’d probably kill me.”
“Fine!” Ashley snaps, sick of Jet’s strange rudeness towards her. This wasn’t like him, as respect was very important in the large Wolf’s opinion. He could at least tell her why he was so angry!
“Summoning Jutsu!” Ashley barks harshly, slapping her palm down on the ground, before she becomes shrouded in a cloud of smoke.
“Hello Milady” a friendly voice greets, as Rei appears before Ashley and tilts her head to the side, a closed eye smile on her face, “Jet dear.”
“Hmph…” Jet grunts in response, sitting back on his haunches and turning his head away, ears laid back.
“Ignore him Rei” Ashley instructs, an anime vein on the side of her head. “He doesn’t want to help me with this, so you’re the only one who can help me now.”
“I will…..Do my best Milady” Rei responds hesitantly, lavender eyes flicking between Jet and Ashley unsurely. “What would you have me do?”
“I need you to perform the Fang Over Fang technique with me” Ashley explains, glancing back as the Three Tails growls ominously, the sound carrying on the wind. “While we do the Fang Over Fang, I need you to focus as much electricity as you possibly can. I’m going to use my Katsuryoku to surround us with water and make the blow even more devastating.”
“But Milady!” Rei cries, bouncing to her feet. “If we are going to be in such close proximity to each other, my electricity will hurt you!”
“I’ll be fine Rei” Ashley brushes off the Wolf’s concern with a wave of her hand. “We just really need to beat this Three Tails. Can you start focusing your chakra?”
Her pretty eyes filled with anxiety and her ears drooping a little, Rei releases a soft sigh and nods. She begins building up her chakra, until small, blue sparks start flashing across her fur.
“More Rei” Ashley instructs, determined frown on her face. “We’re going to need as much power as possible, coz the Three Tails’ armour is tough.”
Pausing for just a moment, Rei sighs again and reluctantly continues focusing her chakra, the sparks growing longer as they crackle around the Wolf’s body. Her fur swiftly starts to turn a bright blue, as Rei’s physical form disappears and is replaced by a body composed of pure chakra enhanced lightning.
“I am ready now Milady” Rei states, her voice riddled with static. Ashley nods her head, feeling the strong heat radiating from Rei’s new form.
“Let’s do it then….” the blonde Minami crouches down on all fours and performs some hand signs. “Fang Over Fang!”
At the same time, Rei and Ashley launch themselves forwards with a powerful release of chakra and begin spinning wildly through the air. The two merge together to form one powerful drill, with bolts of lightning flashing and cracking around their bodies.
Cringing due to the extreme heat coming from Rei’s body and the stinging sensation of her electricity, Ashley manages to swipe one hand down towards the lake.
From his position, a good sixty metres behind them, Jet watches as a torrent of water stretches up towards the spinning vortex, before it is sucked into the chaotic tornado.
Not a second later, Ashley and Rei slam into the Three Tails’ side, the force of the hit pushing it backwards in the water.
The huge creature throws up a pillar-like arm and roars in pain, as its entire body is overlayed with a sheet of blue lightning, the bolts streaking across its armour in jagged patterns.
As Rei and Ashley continue drilling into the Three Tails’ shell, they manage to create a small divot and crack the armour, before a small explosion blows them both backwards.
Rei flips around in mid air and lands on all fours in a crouched position, while Ashley lands on two feet and slides backwards across the water, before dropping to one knee.
“Milady, are you okay?” Rei calls worriedly, spinning around and bounding over to the hunched girl. “You have a burn on your arm….And your mask has a scratch on it too.”
Gritting her teeth, Ashley raises her arm and tugs the mask over her head, a pained grimace on her face. She glares down at the black and white mask in her hand, unimpressed with the vertical slice through the mask’s right eye hole.
“Dammit” the Minami huffs, pulling her mask back on, though she leaves it on the side of her head. “Good job Rei, that was one hell of a blast.”
“But you are injured now” the white Wolf reminds Ashley apologetically, to which she waves a dismissive hand.
“We’ve achieved our goal” the blonde says with a nod towards the Three Tails, causing Rei to turn around.
To her surprise, she sees the Three Tails lying on its side, the left half of its body under the water. Steam rises from its fried body, and the one eye that it always held open is now closed.
“I suppose congratulations are in order” a deep voice says sarcastically, causing Ashley’s neck to wrench around to the right, eyes narrowed. “You defeated it.”
Jet walks steadily towards her, head held high and eyes half hooded. His mouth sits in a straight line, and one of his eyebrows is raised in a disdainful manner.
“Yeah, no thanks to you Jet” Ashley growls, jumping to her feet, though Jet still towers over her. “What the hell is your problem?!”
“No thanks to me?” the black Wolf repeats, brows furrowing a little. “I helped you in the beginning. But for this plan to work, Rei was clearly the better choice. I have done no wrong…..Unlike you Milady.”
“Don’t speak to me in that tone Jet” Ashley warns in a low voice, her face darkening. “I have my reasons for doing this, and I don’t have to tell you why. You’re supposed to just do as I say!”
“I don’t have to do as you say!” Jet snaps back, struggling to control his temper now. “I am not your Guardian!”
Ashley’s eyes widen at that, feeling as though she’d just been slapped in the face for some reason. Rei too looks at Jet with wide eyes, lowering her head and keeping her tail between her legs. She didn’t like where this argument was going, but she knew that someone was going to get hurt….
“Jet dear” the kind hearted Wolf begins softly, “Perhaps you shouldn’t-”
“No Rei” Jet interrupts darkly, “I only speak the truth, and she knows it. The only one who has an obligation to protect you is Ace. The rest of us are not your birth dedicated Guardians.”
Ashley remains silent, merely staring at Jet, though her eyes are no longer wide with shock. She gives him a blank, emotionless look, her eyes betraying nothing. Let Jet say what he wanted, Ashley wasn’t going to show him how much his words had hurt her.
“Maybe you’re right” the blonde states coldly, “But you still have no right to be so mad at me. I didn’t do anything to you.”
“No right?” Jet repeats incredulously, eyes flashing angrily. “You must be joking.”
Ashley merely crosses her arms and shrugs a shoulder, raising an eyebrow as if to say that no, she wasn’t joking.
“Perhaps I shall list all of the reasons why I’m mad” Jet growls, the fur on the back of his neck bristling. “You betrayed the Leaf Village for no reason-”
“I have a reason.”
“-You have joined up with these criminals” Jet continues, ignoring Ashley’s comment, “And you’re helping them capture Tailed Beasts-”
“Which is nothing you should be taking personally.”
“You have forced us to fight against former allies” Jet continues, struggling not to bare his teeth at the careless look on Ashley’s face.
“I never forced you” the blonde states flatly. “You attacked Kakashi of your own free will.”
“Because he attacked the kid!” Jet suddenly roars, making Ashley jump and Rei whimper. “He attacked the kid because you put him in that situation in the first place! He was almost killed because of you!”
“So, this isn’t about me at all” Ashley says slowly, frowning a little. “This is about Chi.”
“No, it’s about you putting him in such danger and under so much emotional stress” Jet seethes, leaning his head down closer to Ashley and glaring into her eyes, “That he almost kills himself by using a chakra draining Jutsu! You never even asked how he was doing when you summoned me here! You don’t even care that he almost died, just because of your selfishness and betrayal!”
A hundred different emotions flash across Ashley’s face, before Jet lets out an irate snarl and spins around, with the Minami’s eyes lowering to the water. She’d been so focused on getting away from the Leaf Ninja and capturing the Three Tails, that she hadn’t tried to find out if poor Chi was alright.
Her beloved, sweet tempered little Chi….Ashley didn’t realise he’d almost died back there. She thought he’d just passed out from being tired……Not that that was any better of course….
“How….How is Chi?” Ashley asks quietly, glancing up as Jet turns his head and glares at her over his shoulder.
“He’s fine” the black Wolf says lividly, “No thanks to you.”
That said, Jet disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving Ashley standing in silence. Rei steps up beside her, glancing around with wide eyes and an innocent look of worry on her face.
“Milady?” the white Wolf whispers, her ears laid back sadly. “Milady, please don’t be upset about what Jet said. He’s….He’s still just worried about Chi. He blames himself for letting Chi get so hurt.”
“He’s right though Rei” Ashley eventually replies flatly, lifting her head and flicking her mask down over her face. “I’m not upset about it at all. If Jet wants to be angry at me, then so be it.”
“You don’t need to try and be strong in front of me Milady” Rei says with a tiny smile. “I understand if you are sad or-”
“Rei” Ashley smirks behind her mask, placing one hand on the Wolf’s head to silence her. “I’mnot trying to be strong for you. It really doesn’t bother me. You should go now, Deidara and Tobi will be over here in a second.”
Rei ducks her head out from underneath Ashley’s hand, slowly walking backwards and studying the girl closely, seemingly confused about something.
“I’d like to think that I know you well enough to know when you’re lying” the fluffy Wolf comments, eyes hooded, “And I’m not convinced right now. You’re upset about what Jet said, and this whole thing with the Akatsuki…….I just hope you know what you’re doing Ashley.”
With a half hearted smile and a nod of her head, Rei disappears, leaving Ashley frowning to herself.
Everyone was getting so mad at her, and making things as difficult as possible. Why couldn’t her Wolves just trust her? Sure, she’d run off to try and join the Akatsuki without talking to them first, but this would all work out for the better, she was sure of it!
“Should I tell them?.....” Ashley mumbles to herself in thought, when the sound of flapping wings catches her attention and makes her look up.
Hovering above the unconscious Three Tails, Deidara stands atop his clay bird and nods his head in approval.
“Nice job” the blonde teen compliments in his snarky tone. “A bit messy, but you got the job done in the end hm…..Which is more than I can say for some people.”
“Deidara Senpai” Tobi cries, running onto the lake, “Tobi is a good boy! He helped Ashley-chan capture the Three Tails!”
Ashley glowers at Tobi. Where had that idiot even disappeared to anyway? It was only too bad that the beast hadn’t eaten him….
“Like hell you helped!” Ashley snaps, jumping up and catching hold of the rope Deidara had thrown down to her. “I did this by myself!”
“Well…..It was a group effort…..” the blonde adds under her breath, working on tying the rope around one of the Three Tails’ back legs.
“Exactly!” Tobi cries joyously, jumping up onto the Three Tails and doing a dance. “It was a group effort between Tobi and Ashley-chan, but it was my super awesome Jutsu that brought the Three Tails down! At first I didn’t think I’d be able to do it, but in the end, I did! Don’t you think I did a great job Deidara Senpai?”
“No, I don’t” is the flat reply. “We both know that it was her that neutralised the Three Tails. If it weren’t for her, you’d still be splashing around in the water. Seeing as you’re an Akatsuki member now, you need to stop jabbering and learn how to be cool.”
Tobi and Ashley both stare up at Deidara blankly, their faces covered by masks.
“That’s the secret” Deidara continues, his bright blue eye hooded. “No cool, no art.”
“Wait….Art?” Ashley questions, rising to her feet and scratching her head. “Since when were we talking about art?”
“You see, that’s what art is hm” Deidara explains, shrugging a shoulder. “It’s passionate emotions, recollected in cool tranquillity.”
“….Talk about jabbering” Tobi chuckles awkwardly, “Ha ha ha….”
Ashley sweat drops as Deidara slowly turns his head and gives Tobi a murderous look, causing the dark haired male to jump down from the Three Tails in a panic.
Before Tobi can get away, Deidara throws a clay bomb at him, blowing the screaming male up into the air.
“What?!” Lady Tsunade shouts, shooting up so fast from her seat that it almost tips over backwards. “You’re seriously telling me that Ashley’s a member of the Akatsuki?!”
Sakura, Shizune, Naruto and Yamato flinch at Tsunade’s sudden increase in volume, while Kakashi rubs the back of his head and Kiba crosses his arms, a frown etched onto his face. Akamaru sits beside Kiba and whines, Lady Tsunade’s volume hurting his ears.
All of the Leaf Ninja had only arrived back in the Village about an hour ago, and majority of them had stopped by the hospital. Kakashi had ordered Sakura, Naruto and Kiba to go as well, but the three of them had been determined to come to Lady Tsunade’s office with the Jonin.
“Well, we don’t think she’s a member just yet Milady” Shizune speaks up, trying to keep her voice calm. “She wasn’t wearing a ring or a cloak with red clouds on it.”
“She was also travelling by herself” Kakashi adds on. “We didn’t come across any Akatsuki members at all while we were out at the lake. I can only assume she’s trying to find them.”
“So, she wasn’t kidnapped by the Akatsuki” Tsunade mutters irritably, hands balled into fists at her side as she glares down at the paperwork on her desk. “She willingly ran off to try and find them….”
“This could become an issue Milady” Sakura says hesitantly, pausing for only a moment as Kiba sends her a warning glare. “Ashley kept saying that she wanted the Three Tails for the Akatsuki, and she even fought against us to keep us from taking it.”
“It’ll be fine Sakura” Tsunade replies harshly, caramel eyes burning with anger. “Ashley may be an arrogant little brat, but she can’t take on a team of ANBU by herself. She’s not that strong.”
“Hey” Kiba barks, not liking Lady Tsunade’s tone. “She’s plenty strong enough! And she didn’t attack us, her Wolves di-”
“Wake up Kiba!” Sakura can’t help crying, wishing the brunette would just come to terms with the situation. “Ashley ordered them to attack us! And she did attack you. I know it’s hard, but we just have to accept that Ashley’s not our friend anymore….”
Kiba smirks nastily at Sakura here, shaking his head slowly.
“You can hardly lecture me on stuff like that Sakura” the Inuzuka retorts meanly, “Considering you’ve been chasing after Sasuke like a lost puppy for three years now! If you should give up on anyone, it should be him!”
Sakura’s eyes fly wide open at that, her mouth falling open a little. Her eyes begin wavering after a moment, the hurt very evident in her face as she brings her hands to her chest and hangs her head.
“Hey!” Naruto calls out, jumping forwards and holding a fist out towards Kiba. “Don’t talk to Sakura like that! She’s just as upset as everyone else that Ashley ran away! If anything, you should feel bad for Sakura, coz this is the second time we’ve had to deal with a teammate leaving us like this!”
“It’s not my fault she’s talking like a hypocrite!” Kiba is quick to snap back, causing Naruto to see red.
Though he could understand that Kiba was really hurting on the inside, probably more than anyone else, Naruto didn’t think the Inuzuka had any right to be snapping at people left, right and centre. It was getting on his nerves now.
“Sakura’s not a hypocrite!” Naruto shouts, jumping forwards again to punch Kiba. “Shut up Kiba!”
“Bring it on shrimp!” the Inuzuka growls, moving to counter Naruto’s attack, when Kakashi suddenly appears in front of him. Before Kiba can react, Kakashi spins around and nails the boy in his stomach with a powerful kick.
Kiba can’t help grunting in pain as his back collides with a wall, before he slides to the ground. Cracking one eye open, Kiba glares at Kakashi and places one hand on his stomach.
“You boys need to calm down” Yamato instructs, holding Naruto against the wall with his arms pulled up behind his back. “Fighting isn’t going to resolve anything.”
“Lady Tsunade” Kakashi addresses the blonde haired woman, now seated in her chair again, “The reality is, I’ve lost another member of Team Seven and we need to know what you think we should do. I….I didn’t inform the ANBU you sent about Ashley’s defection, so I’m not too sure how they’ll react if they see her.”
Lady Tsunade nods her head, seemingly studying something on her desk as Kakashi talks. She wasn’t really looking at anything, her mind was too busy whirring around with possible scenarios and solutions. Why had Ashley done this? What had she been thinking when she ran off?
Kakashi breathes an almost inaudible sigh of relief, glad that Tsunade hadn’t gotten mad at him for keeping that information from the ANBU Black Ops.
“What should we do about Ashley leaving Lady Tsunade?” Sakura asks tearfully, raising her head to look at her mentor. “I don’t want to have to fight her again. She…She’s my best friend….”
“I know Sakura” Tsunade responds with a heavy sigh, eyes closed momentarily. “And I think I’ve reached a decision, at least for now.”
Kiba, Naruto and Sakura look to Lady Tsunade hopefully, crossing their fingers that the woman would be lenient. She had been Ashley’s mentor for a small time as well after all, and the girl had protected her against Orochimaru. Surely that counted for something!
“For the time being” Tsunade begins, opening her caramel eyes, but keeping them hooded, “We will keep this information to ourselves. Those who already know of Ashley’s defection are to be the only people who know. Do I make myself clear?”
“Hai Milady” Shizune, Sakura, Kakashi and Yamato reply obediently, though Sakura is trying to hold back a relieved smile.
“So…..You’re not gonna send ANBU Black Ops after Ashley?” Naruto questions hopefully. “And you’re not gonna get other Villages to look out for her? Thank you Granny!”
“I’m not doing this for Ashley, so don’t thank me” is Tsunade’s sharp reply. “And I have no idea why you’d even suggest that second thing. The only reason I want to keep this quiet is because I don’t want Ashley being put into the Bingo Book as a rogue Ninja. Sasuke’s already in there, and other Villages will grow suspicious of us if we have multiple Shinobi defecting to Orochimaru and the Akatsuki.”
Naruto’s shoulders droop at this and Kiba’s face takes on a strained look as he contemplates Tsunade’s words. He hadn’t even thought about what would happen to Ashley if she was put in the Bingo Book….
“Defecting from your Village is reason enough to be hunted down by Shinobi from the same Village” Shizune says softly, dark eyes troubled, “But joining the Akatsuki…..Ashley would soon have a target painted on her back by every Shinobi Village in the world.”
“We have to help her then!” Kiba cries, taking a step forwards and giving Lady Tsunade a pleading look. “Please Lady Tsunade, don’t let anyone get to her yet. Let me try to bring her back home!......”
Naruto and Sakura look from Kiba to Tsunade, holding their breath to see what she’d say. Would the Hokage let them go back out to search for their old friend?
“I understand how you must feel Kiba” Tsunade sighs after a moments pause, “But I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”
“What?!” the incredulous Inuzuka exclaims. “Why the hell not?!”
Tsunade’s face drops into a dangerous frown at Kiba’s tone, as the boy jumps to his feet.
“Watch your tone with me boy.”
“How come you let Naruto and Sakura go running around everywhere trying to find Sasuke” Kiba accuses, ignoring his Hokage and jabbing a hand at the two teens, “But when I ask and we actually know where Ashley is, you say no?! It’s not fair!”
“Life’s not fair Kiba” Lady Tsunade replies darkly, eyeing him sharply, before slowly turning around in her chair. “The sooner you learn that, the better…..”
“This is bullshit!” Kiba explodes, whirling around and stomping towards the door. In his anger, Kiba raises his foot and slams it against the doorknob, smashing a gaping hole in the door.
“You’ve just condemned her to die” Kiba snaps, peering back over his shoulder, “I hope you know that.”
“No” Tsunade replies, sincere regret in her voice, “She condemned herself.”
That said, Kiba shoves his way through the broken door and runs down the hallway, with a concerned Akamaru in tow.
“Kiba……” Sakura murmurs, looking after the brunette with sad, shining eyes. Feeling bad for the obviously hurting Inuzuka, Naruto pats his pocket and walks over to the door.
“I’ll talk to him Granny” the blonde offers quietly, before gingerly stepping through the door and walking off to find Kiba.
Lady Tsunade remains silent as Naruto disappears through the broken door, staring out of the window when the remaining Leaf Ninja in the room turn to her.
“With all due respect Lady Tsunade” Shizune begins hesitantly, “Why won’t you let them try to bring Ashley back to the Village? I don’t doubt your decision, but you have let Naruto and Sakura go on personal missions like this a few times.”
Lady Tsunade drums her fingers on the arms rest of her chair, turning it slightly so she can look at Shizune from the corner of her eye.
“I have my reasons Shizune” the blonde haired woman replies ominously. “I don’t believe Ashley needs, or wants to be brought back…..”
“How can you be sure Milady?” Yamato asks curiously, tilting his head and furrowing his brows.
“I know her quite well” is all the Hokage replies. “Please have your reports on my desk within the next two days……..You’re all dismissed.”
Kakashi pauses for a moment, as if wanting to say something, before he runs a hand through his hair and sighs quietly. This whole situation was really troubling him, and for some reason, he couldn’t help feeling a little guilty.
Was he such a bad Sensei, that his students believed they had to leave to achieve greatness?.....
“Come on Sakura” Shizune says softly, placing a hand on the pinkette’s shoulder and gently pushing her towards the door. “We need to go to the hospital and get healed up, so we can take care of the others.”
“Yeah, but Shizune” Sakura protests, eyeing Lady Tsunade as she is steered from the room, “Lady Hokage looks…..”
“I know” Shizune whispers in the girl’s ear, “But she wants to be left alone for awhile. That’s why we’ve been dismissed. Now come on…”
Catching the worried look Sakura is giving him, Kakashi sends the girl a closed eye smile, hoping his pathetic attempt might make her feel a little better. Who was he kidding though? A fake smile from her Sensei wasn’t going to bring Ashley back to the Village and erase the things she’d said from Sakura’s mind.
As Sakura and Shizune exit the room, both Yamato and Kakashi sigh heavily, before performing hand signs and disappearing from the room in two puffs of smoke.
Now left alone in her office, Tsunade rises from her chair and walks over to her window, looking down at the Village below.
For a brief second, she spots Naruto as he sprints past a gap between two buildings, no doubt hunting Kiba and Akamaru down.
“I know how it feels” Tsunade says under her breath, anger bubbling up inside her once again, “To have someone you thought was your ally and friend defect from the Village. Try and try as you may, they just can’t be saved….But you Ashley…..”
Clenching her hands into fists, Tsunade whirls around and slams one down on her desk. The wooden furniture immediately splinters and collapses in the middle, causing all of the paper on it to float to the floor in messy piles.
“You sneaky little devil……” Lady Tsunade seethes, a nasty smirk on her face and an anime vein forming on her forehead.
“Kiba!” Naruto calls, skidding to a halt as he enters Team Eight’s usual training field. “There you are!”
Sitting with his back against a tree, arms crossed over bent knees and his head hung low, Kiba growls under his breath. He did not want to deal with Naruto right now.
Though the Inuzuka was good friends with Naruto, he just didn’t need to hear a lecture right now, or to be told that he was being stupid. Naruto had better tread carefully, or Kiba was going to clock him upside the head.
“Hey man” Naruto says, jogging over to Kiba and pausing in front of him and tilting his head. “You sure ran off quick.”
“Ruff….” Akamaru barks quietly, lying beside Kiba and nudging the boy in his ribs. “Ruff ruff.”
“I’m really not in the mood right now Naruto” Kiba mutters to the ground, head still hanging down. “I just…..Wanna be alone for awhile.”
“Well, you weren’t alone anyway” Naruto replies cheekily, trying to get Kiba’s mood up, “Coz Akamaru was here before me.”
“I swear Naruto….” Kiba growls lowly, raising his head just enough to glare at the blonde through the hair hanging over his eyes. Naruto takes the hint and moves back a step, holding his hands up in defence.
The Uzumaki then reaches up and rubs his neck, unsure of what to say to Kiba to make him feel any better. He didn’t think there was anything he could say. The Inuzuka seemed pretty down, which was unusual for him. Even when things were going wrong for him, Kiba always kept up his playful, arrogant personality. This was obviously really hurting him, and Naruto didn’t like to see his friends hurting.
“Look Kiba” Naruto begins, frowning a little, “I think I can understand how you feel-”
“Why?” Kiba interrupts, raising his head again, his eyes looking a little red. “Do you love Ashley?”
“No!” Naruto is quick to defend, before pausing. “Well……Not in the same way you do. She’s just a very good friend.”
“Then how could you understand how I feel?....” Kiba trails off, resting his chin on his crossed arms and hooding his eyes. “She’s everything to me Naruto, as lame as it sounds. I don’t want her being chased by ANBU and Ninja from other Villages. If those Akatsuki bastards don’t kill her, they will.”
“Heh, I don’t think it’s lame” Naruto chuckles, shaking his head. “But that is how I feel about my friends. My friends are my only family, so they mean everything to me.”
“Yeah I guess…….” Kiba sighs deeply, eyes staring at nothing.
“I agree with you too, just so you know” Naruto continues softly, placing his hands in his pockets and hooding his blue eyes. “I don’t think it’s fair that we can’t go and bring Ashley back. She’s just as important to me, Sakura and Kakashi Sensei as Sasuke is, and I know none of them will agree with Granny Tsunade’s decision either.”
“Thanks man” Kiba says sincerely, managing a tiny smile. “It sucks, and now I don’t know if I should do what the Hokage says….Or if I shouldn’t…..”
“This may not mean much coming from me” Naruto replies after a moments thought, “But don’t do anything stupid. We’ll use any opportunity we can to get Ashley-chan back, but we don’t want to cause Granny Tsunade any more trouble either……Here….”
Looking up, Kiba’s eyes slowly begin to widen as he stares at the thing in Naruto’s outstretched hand.
“Where did you get this?” the Inuzuka asks breathlessly, reaching out and taking the hitai ate in his hands. “This is Ashley’s!”
“Yeah….” Naruto chuckles awkwardly, “She gave it to me, well, more like threw it at me, but I figured you might wanna look after it. You know, for safe keeping until Ashley-chan comes back.”
Staring down at the headband for a few more moments, Kiba unzips his leather jacket and ties it around his neck, much like the style Ashley had always worn it. He then zips the jacket back up, leaving the headband barely visible, and grins up at Naruto.
“It looks better on her” he jokes, allowing Naruto to take him by the hand and pull him to his feet, “But like you said, gotta look after it til she gets back home!”
“Looks like you won’t be wearing it for long then” Naruto teases, as Kiba slaps him on the back. Akamaru runs around the two boys barking, his tail wagging joyfully. He was happy to see that Naruto had managed to pull the Inuzuka out of his down mood, at least for now.
For those who aren't aware, The Wolf Inside is a finalist in the Watty Awards this year - 2013/2014. So if you you enjoyed TWI, please go and vote for it! I'd be really greatful ^-^