"If I stay it won't be long
Till I'm burning on the inside
If I go I can only hope
That I make it to the other side"
"Get out alive" Three Days Grace
"Big sis Ariza, is this really just a drill evacuation?" Konohamaru asked loudly and tugged my sleeve, making me look down at him. We chunin and jounin were escorting academy students to the Hokage Rock shelter, and the kids were goofing off as much as they could, yelling and making noise. No matter how much we calmed them—it didn't help.
I gave Konohamaru a reproachful look and noticed dozens more kids' eyes on me. They all awaited my answer like divine truth.
"Yes, Konohamaru, it's a drill, a drill," I lied to the kids, pursing my lips, then smiled a bit and ruffled Sarutobi's hair. "Don't worry; you'll see the shelter, get a tour, learn safety procedures."
"Nuuu! Then it's boring!" the boy drawled, crossing his arms, then pretended he didn't care.
"Why so many ninja here then?" Moegi, the girl walking next to her friend, asked curiously.
"That's a secret," I winked.
"Ariza," Yasushi called to me—the twenty-something guy with short dark hair, unusual all-blue clothes except for his Chunin vest, and beautiful blue eyes. He was from our small squad, escorting kids from the other side of the line. He grinned wide, waved, then jumped to a rooftop. I saw they were already leading the kids into the rock ahead, so after a quick goodbye to the children, I jumped to a building too a second later.
"Those the last ones?" Yasushi asked the jounin, who nodded.
"Come here," commander Takashi-san said, and we approached the group. "Now we just prepare for the coming battle. We don't know if it'll happen, so prep must be thorough."
"Hideko, Areta," he addressed the twin blondes, and they both perked up. Obviously brothers. "You'll set traps south and west. No explosives; we don't need extra attention."
"Got it," they said together and jumped off the roof.
"Shiju, Ariza," the commander turned to us. "Take this scroll to post number three," he handed us a small scroll, and I took it. "Also tell them we've finished evacuation and are prepping for attack. Clear?"
"Yes, sir," I nodded; the guy didn't respond.
"Then move," Takashi-san said sternly, and we vanished from the roof in a blink. Simple task, but considering my partner, it wouldn't be pleasant. I'd known Shiju less than an hour but already hated him. Before him, I thought my self-esteem was inflated. How wrong I was.
"Ugh... if... you run slow, huff... don't think... I'll wait," the brown-eyed guy said arrogantly, panting, glancing over his shoulder.
"Pff," I snorted; the situation was hilarious. He was running slow, out of breath, yet seriously telling me to hurry, while my breathing hadn't even changed.
"Hah... what'd you say?" he looked at me haughtily. That's why no one wanted to pair with him during evacuation.
"Nothing, Shiju."
"You watch it!" he snapped reproachfully, and I doubted his sanity again. "They hire weak little girls! Hand over the scroll," he braked sharply and practically snatched it from my hands.
"'Asshole! He's so annoying! Seventeen, and acts like ten,'" I mentally howled. I didn't care who carried the scroll, but his actions shocked me. Thank Kami the third post was close. Almost there.
After two districts, we saw a four-story building by the square. The main third post was on that roof, linking to all others and reporting to the Hokage. We jumped to the wall and ran up to the roof. Honestly, I was already anticipating parting with this green-haired guy; Shiju was the first person whose presence made me nauseous.
Nearing the roof, we didn't dawdle and used Shunshin to shift.
My joy vanished instantly.
Instead of our coordinated teammates, we saw only cold corpses and blood pools.
In full horror, I froze. Fear wouldn't let me move, like it deliberately held me back.
"Wh-who, h-how? When?" I stared at the bodies in horror. Some had necks snapped, others gutted brutally... The stench hanging in the air made me want to puke. Yes, I'd seen corpses before, but not ones I knew when alive. Here... I'd talked to some of these shinobi... sometime... or just crossed paths.
"We gotta run! Report this now," Shiju grabbed my elbow and yanked me back to reality. I looked into his fear-widened eyes and knew mine were the same.
"Wait, no! What if someone's alive!" I quickly checked for traps; nothing nearby. I ran over and started examining bodies. I began with palpation—checking pulse first—then realized how insane that was: this guy had a kunai in his ear canal (clearly pros: hilt-deep, perpendicular to the skull). And yet, what kind of idiot checks pulse? "Shiju, check the others!" I yelled and moved to more.
The bodies were still warm, so killed about half an hour ago—enemy close, we're in danger. No matter how quietly, carefully, vigilantly we acted, big chance we'd join these jounin bodies I was checking, who'd recently guarded sensors and Yamanaka, by my guess.
"Hey! Girl, someone's alive here!" the guy yelled.
"Can you be quieter?" I headed to my "comrade." "Enemies might be close."
"Don't tell me what to do," he replied rudely.
"You checked him?" I asked, approaching.
"Yeah, just one wound."
"Can you hear me?" I asked the gut-wounded man softly.
"Y-yes, cough-cough, it h-hurts so much..." his face twisted in pain; the shinobi curled up, clutching the wound. His clothes bore the Yamanaka clan crest. He must've been the linker.
"Hold on; it'll pass soon," I said soothingly, trying to calm him. "Everything will be fine; let me see the wound. I'm a medical ninja."
"Y-yes, kah," he moved his trembling bloody hands, and I began diagnosing. Luckily, no organs pierced through; kunai grazed between them, nicking parietal and a bit of visceral peritoneum.
"You're fine; you'll live!" I said happily. "I'll freeze the wound a bit so it hurts less; clone will heal the rest," I chatted with the ninja. Key was nonstop talk to keep him conscious. No time to heal fully; I'd stop the bleeding quick, clone handles rest. "See? You're lucky. Or the attacker was an amateur."
"Y-yes," the Yamanaka gritted through pain, then smiled faintly. And I realized the best part of saving someone was seeing hope reignite in eyes where it'd faded.
Morally prepped to heal, I lifted his shirt and...
"You son of a bitch!" I screamed in horror and frantically peeled off seals. His whole abdomen was covered in explosive seals. Why hadn't we noticed?! How?!
"Damn!" spotting it, the Yamanaka tried ripping them off with shaking hands. He failed mostly but kept trying, refusing to give up. Only his fear-filled eyes betrayed him.
"We gotta go. Can't save him. One boom—and enemies spot us," Shiju said indifferently; he'd stood by doing nothing.
"I won't abandon him!" I yelled back, but as I peeled three, others activated and hissed. "Damn, damn!" I desperately tried removing them, but too many. Then someone yanked my collar and threw me. I jumped up instantly and saw Shiju forming seals for a barrier. The Yamanaka, tears in eyes, screamed something, rose, reached for us like a last lifeline—but we couldn't hear.
Then... bright flash. And nothing.
I felt a tear roll down my cheek; bitter pain gripped inside. The barrier shielded us from everything: blast, shockwave, noise, smoke, congealed blood splatter...
And I remembered his fear-filled eyes.
He wanted to live; he wanted it so much! I sank to my knees, unable to stand.
I hadn't done anything... I couldn't. Failed!
"We gotta go," the green-haired guy approached. "His fault for not saying."
"He's not at fault..." I drawled, eyes fixed on the fire. Barrier down; now we smelled death mixed with charred flesh.
"If he'd said..."
"He's not at fault, hear me?!" I stood and glared at Shiju angrily.
"Who cares; he's dead!" he yelled, grabbing my shoulders. "Stop whining; we gotta go!"
His words hit like a slap.
I realized if I let emotions loose now, nothing good would come.
"How dare..." I started arguing but sensed approaching presences. Five sources, jounin-sized by volume. But chakra I'd never felt before. "Hide, now!"
Grabbing the idiot, I Shunshin'd; second later, we hid on a wooden overhang between first and second floors. Konoha houses often had these ledge-like awnings between floors, windowless, for shinobi ease.
In place, I first sealed Shiju.
"What're you do... ing... mmmph- f-f..." he started yelling, but I clamped his mouth.
"Quiet; short-term seal hides your chakra—sensors might be among them," I waited till he stopped struggling and nodded, then released. "Shh, come on," I pressed a finger to my lips, then crept carefully along the roof to the corner.
Reaching it, we watched the square: five Chunin talking, then dispersing. They formed a circle and began seals.
"What're they doing?" the guy whispered.
"Dunno, but I don't like it," I whispered back.
After a long seal sequence, I felt faint chakra underground. Wouldn't worry if one spot, but it was spread over the surface. Two guesses: summoning beast or horde of strong enemies hiding chakra. I prayed for the first.
Earth parted quietly; Shiju and I witnessed enemy ninja silently leaping from the pit. So many, like a whole army assembled. They jumped, formed squads, and left. About fifteen times.
All this, we held our breath behind the corner, watching in horror. They'd tricked us: attacked from the heart. Fear made me forget to breathe; sweat beaded my forehead. My whole body shook to my knees. One wrong move, and you're dead. I felt Shiju nervous too—shaking with fear, really.
I swallowed and imagined the fallout of such a rear attack. Had to warn everyone now. Or we'd lose the war.
When the horde of shinobi scattered, I jumped down and dashed into an alley: our conversation shouldn't be overheard here. And there are no hotspots nearby anyway.
"We need to get to our people right away!" the guy said in alarm.
"Yeah, but first we need to warn everyone," I said, forming seals, and about ten of my clones appeared. "You two, head to the arena, keep an eye on Naruto and Sasuke, and warn the Hokage if he doesn't know yet. You," I pointed to four clones, "warn all the other posts, and hand over the scroll they gave us," I nodded toward Shiju, and he handed the scroll to the clone with disdain. "The rest of you, just help the civilians, save them if needed or evacuate them."
"Roger that," they replied in unison and scattered.
"Let's go," Shiju said curtly, as if cutting off the conversation.
"Yeah," I replied and tossed my backpack aside: I wouldn't need it anymore. A notebook fell out of it, but ignoring it, I ran after my "comrade," who had already bolted somewhere.
"Shiju, let's jump down and run through the alleys. Jumping across rooftops like this is too dangerous," I said, catching up to the guy, and seconds later I heard a series of explosions somewhere in the village center. It had begun...
"Fine," he replied, as if doing me a favor, and we jumped down.
Closer to our team's position, we heard a lot of explosions, as if a full battle was already raging there. I counted eleven unfamiliar hotspots and four of my own. Well then, I'll attack suddenly so they won't have time to react. We leaped onto the roof in front of the square where our people were fighting, and I started sprinting, forming seals along the way. I'd already planned my actions, but suddenly someone grabbed me by the scruff and threw me from the roof's edge into the wall.
"Charging in there is suicide! We can't handle them," I heard as if through cotton wool, and prying my eyes open, I saw that green-haired kid in front of me. "We need to run for reinforcements!"
"Are you insane? They'll slaughter all our people by then!" I said as loudly as I could and stood up, steadying myself against the wall.
"And if we charge in, they'll slaughter us too!"
"We don't have to go for backup ourselves," I formed seals, and the clone that appeared bolted off. "I'll send a clone—he's tough, won't dispel on the first hit."
"I'm not going in there anyway," he replied irritably.
"You're just a coward!" I finally said what I'd wanted to for a while but had held back.
"I don't give a damn about your opinion. Good luck in the afterlife!" He waved at me and turned to leave, but at the last moment I grabbed his arm.
"You can go wherever you want! But know this—I won't let it slide," I said almost through gritted teeth, looking up at him, gripping his arm hard. "The village doesn't need traitors and cowards, and if I survive..."
"Trust me, girl, no one will ever know," he interrupted, grabbing me by the collar and lifting me with a snarl. "And you know why?" He asked, but I was too shocked to speak. "Because you'll die with them..."
He whispered the last words almost in my ear, then I felt myself being thrown somewhere. As soon as I realized I'd been tossed off the roof, I tucked and rolled, using shunshin to head to our people. Fine, let it be on that bastard's conscience—it'll come back around anyway.
"You're right on time!" the blond brothers shouted with smiles. They stood in front of me, breathing heavily, along with our fairly battered commander and Yasushi, who was also pretty worn out.
I quickly scanned the area and, to my surprise, spotted twelve enemies, though there were only eleven chakra hotspots. Looking closer at the one without chakra, I realized it was a doll. Cursing inwardly, I continued surveying. Three enemies in front of us, two more behind them—one a girl with a big bag, probably a medic— and groups of three shinobi each on the left and right flanks. Yeah, they definitely outnumber us, and probably outmatch us in strength too.
I scanned further for the one whose chakra I couldn't sense and spotted him behind us against the wall. He was sitting, leaning against it with his head bowed. Not breathing. One thing was clear—he was already dead. Unfortunately, I didn't know his name—we hadn't had time to introduce ourselves—but it still saddened me that he'd gone so young, maybe twenty at most. As for enemy losses, I'd counted only three so far. That number would probably grow over time, but I hoped I wouldn't have to contribute. Injure, attack, help—yes, but not kill.
"Where's Shiju?!" the commander asked me, deflecting kunai.
"He... Last I saw him was on the building ahead of us, but he decided not to engage, maybe ran for backup," I said, trying not to give him away as a traitor.
"Yeah, right, he ran for backup," one of Atera's blonds smirked, then headed to the left flank with his brother.
"Ariza, take the right flank with Yasushi!" Takashi-san shouted ahead of us and charged the enemies, while we jumped onto the enemy roof with the Chunin.
"O-o-oh, excellent! Finally we can have some fun," one enemy grinned and drew his wakizashi. "We'll slice 'em into ribbons! Into pieces!"
"It's been so long since I spilled some guts!" a girl chimed in supportively.
Out of fear, I took a step back. Suddenly I wanted to run, hide somewhere, save myself. My knees had never shaken like this... not on any exam. I clenched my jaw and fist tighter. Maybe that green-haired guy was right, and I shouldn't...
'No!' I interrupted myself mentally. ' Behind us are kids and the sick, elders and women! I have to protect them—otherwise, what kind of shinobi am I?! We're given this power to protect those without it!' My own words gave me confidence, and I wasn't as tense as seconds ago. ' I've trained for years with the saying: "Hard in training, easy in battle"—so why not test my strength now?!' I smiled a little in anticipation of the fight, drew my sword from its sheath, and charged the enemies. "Don't think we'll give up that easily!"
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan