DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE ANIME OR MANGA SERIES, NARUTO. HOWEVER, I DO OWN THIS BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF STORY I CREATED!

Someone Else by Loveless ft. Kellin Quinn

Ch 23: All's Fair In War
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THIRD POV
STARING AT THE FAMILIAR sight of her older brother, relief washes over her tired body. All the adrenaline running through the girl's veins seems to come to a stop when she realizes that she's safe. However, it also causes her body to stumble in exhaustion, all her damage hitting me like a suckerpunch to the gut.

The affects of chakra exhaustion is seeping into Riko's bones like lead, making her body ache. The kunoichi's mind is screaming for a moment of rest, to sit down and take a breather. However, she's well aware that she can't do that. She has priorities! She has a mission to finish!

Gritting her teeth, the young Kiyomi pushes her aching limbs to move as she looks up at her brother. Riko can tell that he's relieved to see her, but she can also see that he has other agendas to tend to.

"Ranko, I'm grateful that you're okay, but we're obviously needed somewhere else," she tells him, giving a half smirk.

"I should be telling you that, I'm the older one. Besides you look like you're about to drop dead," he chuckles, smiling down at his sister. "But you're right, we're shinobi of Konohagakure and right now our home is under attack."

"Promise to check in after," Riko asks, something they've always done to each other when departing.

"Only if you promise to kick ass," Ranko answers before offering his fist.

She bumps her fist to his. "Definitely," the girl grins.

Like how fast they met up, they separated just as quickly by going their different ways.

Jumping up and through the foliage of the trees, Riko pushes herself to go fast. She promised both Kakashi and Gai sensei that she would look out for Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura, and she isn't going to let her exhaustion get in the way of that. It might come back and bite her later, but like she said, she'll worry about it later.

Her comrades need her and the Kiyomi's not going to let them down!

# # # # # #

NARUTO, SAKURA, AND Shikamaru all follow after Pakkun as he continues to lead them to Sasuke. However, with a whiff to the air, the ninkin instantly turns his head towards the Genin behind him. His sudden action catches Naruto's attention since he's in the front. 

"Hmph, the pursuers have stopped moving," the pug informs, pushing himself off another branch. 

At the news, the three all smile in relief, immediately knowing that Riko did as she promised. That she protected them just like she said she would. The Nara knew that he wouldn't have been able to pull off being a decoy, at least not with any help. So, he's grateful for the Kiyomi for taking the risk off of his hands. He guesses Ino's gushing about Riko being cool is definitely right, no doubt about it. Sakura feels envious towards her purple clad teammate. Even Shikamaru said it, she's a kunoichi with no special ability, and there's Riko who's running on little to nothing chakra yet she volunteered to be decoy. To take on nine chunin or jounin level shinobi. She wonders how the Kiyomi does it. Naruto, well he's just glad that his friend took care of the problem to help them. That she's a girl of her word.  

"She did it! Riko-chan was successful in stopping them in their tracks," Naruto exclaims with a grin. 

"That Riko," Sakura smiles, giving a nod to agree with him. 

Shikamaru smirks. "Man, she just keeps raising her personal expectations, doesn't she? What a drag," he comments.

Alright! Now all that's left is... hang in there, Sasuke, Naruto thinks as he looks ahead. Though, that's before he glances behind him. Riko, you'd better be alive and catch up to us! 

They continue their mission by pushing forward. Riko gave them the opportunity to follow Sasuke without the pressure of being pursued by the enemies. So, they can't slow down or stop when their comrade sacrificed herself for them. For now, they just need to worry about catching up to their other teammate, to go support him against the Sand Siblings. 

If they know Riko like they do, then they're positive that she'll eventually catch up to them. No doubt about it. 

# # # # # #

FURTHER BACK, RIKO rushes through the trees as she jumps branch to branch. The currently pink clad kunoichi can feel her body screaming in protest, to rest, but she ignores it. This is a dire situation and she can't afford to take a breather. In her head, Riko's silently cursing her Uchiha teammate for chasing after the Sand Siblings, like does he know how stupid it is to up against three enemies?! Heck, she knows from experience! It's why she has a permanent scar etched across her face now! 

Shaking her head, the Kiyomi narrows her vermillion colored eyes as she forces her vision to straighten. The fact that she's nearly exhausted most of her chakra reserves should make her stop and think about her actions, but she ignores it, just like she ignores the fact that her eye sight is gaining black dots. 

"You're almost there, Riko. Just keep moving. You'll reach the others soon enough," she reminds herself like a mantra. "Just ignore the fatigue."

Digging her nails into the palms of her hands as she makes fists, the Kiyomi grits her teeth and keeps pushing forward. A sign to speed up. At this moment, she's thankful that her father trained her from such a young age because right now, her stamina is the only thing that's helping her. Her physical endurance. She can only rely on her physicality; no ninjutsu, no chakra, no nothing... just her body. 

Pushing off another tree branch, she moves faster and takes bigger leaps. Trees fly by her as she becomes one with the wind. She feels nothing. Not the branches brushing across her body. Not the pain as she steps off every tree. Not the throbbing of her skull as she fights her light headed vision. Not anything. 

She just moves forward. 

Riko's speed is blinding, so much that she almost skips over Shino's fatigued state. Coming to an abrupt stop, the girl turns to her fellow comrade, silently questioning why he's here of all places. Was he fighting someone? By the looks of it she assumes correctly, it was Kankuro that he was fighting. Especially when Shino looks like he came in contact with poison. Huffing through her nose, the Kiyomi girl comes to her comrade's side, alerting him of her presence. 

"Shino, are you alright? Do you need help, you did fight against Kankuro and he uses poison from the looks of your state," Riko questions. 

"No, I'm quite alright. Why, because my kikaichu bugs are feeding on the poison that's harming me," the Aburame boy explains. 

"Hmm, it seems like your insects are more useful than they appear. A very symbiotic relationship between you two," Riko smiles, relieved that the boy isn't in harms way. "Well, by the looks of it, your biggest concern is the exhausted charka in your body. Are you sure you don't need help?"

"Yes, I am sure. I'll be fine, Riko. Why, because you're going to go help Sasuke and put a stop to this fiasco," Shino grunts, giving a tired, but reassuring smile to the girl. 

Standing from her kneeling position, the purple haired Kunoichi smiles at the support. "You're right, Shino. We will stop this. I'll see you when this is all done, got it?" 

Shino genuinely smiles. "Yes," he simply answers. 

"Until then," and with that RIko is off, rushing towards her teammates with reckless speed. 

Eventually, with her rushing and stumbling speed, Riko finally finds the familiar faces of her teammates along with Shikamaru and Pakkun. Though, she also assesses the scene and finds Temari cowering on a tree off to the side, but most of all, she sees the familiar red locks that belong to Gaara. However, it's not the Gaara she's come to know, no this Gaara is unfamiliar. His appearance is transfigured, mutated, with demonic traits. 

But seeing that Gaara is in mid air about to attack both Sakura and Sasuke, she uses the bit of her strength that she has left, and delivers a suckerpunch to Gaara's face - forcing him to jump back.

Out of breath and with muscles aching, the Kiyomi kunoichi stumbles to the tree holding her comrades. Her appearance shocks Sasuke, not having expecting her, but it brings relief to Sakura, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Pakkun to know that she's okay, that she kept her promise to them. 

"Ri-

The purplette cuts off the pinkette - ignoring the tiny sting of noticing her by Sasuke's side. "I saw Shino on the way here, but he was too exhausted with his fight with Kankuro. He sends his best. Though, now that I see that Kankuro isn't here, I'm assuming he was more affected with their fight or he's keeping his distance from this," she gestures to Gaara. She then glances to her mission assigned team, exhaling a tired smile. "As for the Otogakure shinobi that were pursuing us, they're all dead."

"I knew you could do it, Riko-chan!" Naruto gives her a beaming smile. Though that's before she sees him turn towards Gaara with a determined smirk. "Now, let's beat this bastard and save Sasuke."

Riko feigns a look of surprise. "Oh, Sasuke needs saving? Wow, who would have guessed that we would need to save him from fighting the Sand Siblings? With his arrogance, I thought he would have beaten the Siblings with such ease, you know with him being a powerful Uchiha and all. Color me surprised," she says sarcastically, sending the said boy a knowing glare. 

Yes, she's still upset that he declared to fight her. 

"Riko, shut up," Sakura huffs, glaring at her fellow kunoichi.

"No," the Kiyomi simply retorts. "He was stupid! Chasing a team?! I get it, they attacked Konoha, but chasing a whole freaking team? Where was his common sense? He didn't tell us where he was going, he didn't ask for help, he's lucky someone saw him follow after them, he's lucky we had Pakkun to trace his scent! What did he expect when he finally managed to face them, to beat them all? Please, that's laughable! I mean, look at me! I barely survived the attack with Akano's team in the Forest of Death, and that's because she left me there! Temari's a strategic mastermind, she was in par with Shikamaru during his match, and that's saying something! You all saw how strong she was, both in mind and with her wind jutsus! Kankuro, we didn't see that much from him, but from the preliminaries, we all know that he's skilled in puppetry. But his fight with Shino tells me that he uses poison, what if he poisoned Sasuke?! Shino has his kikaichu bugs to help him with the effects, Sasuke has nothing to fight off poison! And finally, there's Gaara, who looks to be our biggest threat right now! So, no, I will not shut up! Sasuke was, and is, stupid!" 

"He didn't think of the possibilities, the risks! He thought about fighting, and look where we are now! We're helping him, practically saving him! All because he was reckless," Riko scolds, seething towards the Haruno and Uchiha. Her sharpened glare makes her red gaze seem like a pair of red hot knives. 

"So, Naruto, Shikamaru, let's do this," She tells them, turning away from the former duo. 

"What do you suggest we do? From the looks of it, Gaara seems pretty unstoppable. I mean, what a drag," the Nara sighs, rubbing his neck. 

Riko deadpans at his lacking motivation, but she's already used to it. "Not helping Shikamaru. Though by the looks of it, and with my little knowledge of Sunagakure history, I can assume that Gaara's the Jinchuuriki of the One Tailed Beast - Shukaku. So, our plan so far is to stop him before he completely transforms. Okay, Shukaku is a sand demon and probably uses wind to attack...so lightning and earth's useless. We can most likely use fire, but none of us except Sasuke can use it, but he's out of commission. Maybe water, it does cancel against sand making it lose its grip," she mumbles, desperately trying to build a plan. 

"Enough!" the trio get startled with Gaara's outburst. "Are all you going to do is talk?! Come! Let me feel it! Let me relish the feeling of killing you! Let me feel your blood!"

Riko's crimson eyes widen at his behavior. It's psychotic, full of unrelenting bloodlust. Is this what death feels like, she ponders. Of course she's killed, but she never enjoyed it, she never sought it out, she only did it to protect others - as a means to an end. However, looking at Gaara and hearing him, she knows that they're opposites. He seeks the thrill of killing, its as if ending a person's life is what gives him purpose. It makes a freezing chill run down her spine. 

"Are you afraid of me?!" Gaara roars. "Is this the meaning of your existence, depending on others to save you?! Die! Uchiha Sasuke!" 

And once again, Gaara is rushing towards Sasuke and Sakura. Riko's breath hitches in her throat, too stuck and incapable of breathing. Everything is in slow motion, she can practically see the outcome. Sasuke is unable to protect himself and with Sakura's feelings for the boy, she will step up to protect him. Riko knows that Sakura's kunai is no match for Gaara's demonic form, even more so with his speed and strength. 

She can see Sakura dying right then and there, and it's making her panic. 

She promised Kakashi that she would protect them. 

And RIko never breaks her promises! 

Ignoring her weakened body, the Kiyomi forces herself to move fast. To push herself despite the pained yells of her muscles. Her red eyes can see the gap between Gaara and Sakura closing, she can see the rage in the boy's wild gaze. Landing on the same tree, Riko rushes forward and barely manages to push the pink haired kunoichi out of the way. There's one silent second, but it's enough for the Kiyomi to steel herself before she's harshly thrown against the trunk of the tree.

Pain is all she feels when Gaara's demonic sand hand traps her against the tree. Black dots dance in her vision after knocking her head. Her body screams, her bones ache with their bruises. Releasing a shaky exhale, Riko tries to use a Shizen'noishi technique to free herself by phasing through the tree, but a flash of pain is all she gets. Yelling at the sudden feeling of a knife through her body, her chakra exhaustion finally gets the best of her as she coughs out a mouthful of blood. 

Fuck, Riko mentally curses as tears of pain blur her vision, I've exhausted all of my chakra. Of course I let my idiotic feelings for a girl who doesn't even like me hinder my actions!

"Riko," Naruto and Shikamaru yell out, worried for the Kunoichi. 

Sakura stares with wide eyes towards her teammate. She was ready to defend Sasuke against Gaara and the next thing she knows is that she's being shoved to the side. The Haruno was prepared to see Sasuke in her previous spot, defending himself, but she instead saw Riko being crushed against the tree. 

Why, Sakura wonders. Why is she always risking her life? First she acts as the decoy, and now she's protecting me. Even in the Forest she protected me despite us testing separately. She always protects me... Why Riko, why do you do it? 

Naruto jumps to their tree and takes Sasuke as Shikamaru comes to Sakura's aid. Supporting the both of them, the Uzamaki and the Nara jump back to another tree, away from Gaara. 

Riko gives a taunting smirk. "Is that the best you can do, Gaara," she questions before looking to her comrades. "Sakura, you know some beginning level medicine, take care of Sasuke! Naruto, Shikamaru, you two continue to make a plan an-"

She cuts herself off with a pained scream when Gaara adds more pressure, basically crushing her against the tree. Her breaths are ragged as pain overwhelms her. Riko can feel herself becoming faint, everything sounds so far away now especially when her heartbeat is thundering against her eardrums. Her eyes are glassy with tears, they blur everything.

Is this how death feels like? Is this what my victims felt when I killed them? I don't want to go. I promised Ranko that I would be okay. That I would check in with Shino. I promised Kakashi that we would all be alright. What about my parents, would I ever see them again? 

"I'm counting on you guys... I-I'll be fine," Riko gives them a tired smile, finally letting the pained darkness take her.

# # # # # #

SAKURA, NARUTO, SHIKAMARU are all left stunned when the Kiyomi becomes unconscious. Riko, so far, acted as their leader and now that she's out of commission, they're basically left without a plan. Sure, she gave them an idea of what to do, but it's not the same as having her supporting them. Though, nonetheless, they are grateful that she got them this far, and now it's up to them to bring Gaara down.  

They trusted her with the Sound shinobi, and it's only fair that she counts on them to defeat Gaara. 

"Man, what a drag," the Nara huffs frustratedly. "Sakura, you deal with Sasuke like Riko wanted you to do. And whatever happens, just make sure to stay back. We don't need more of us getting hurt. Naruto, you and I, we'll deal Gaara. Between the two of us, I think we can make a pretty solid team, what do you say?"

"Let's do it!" Naruto grins. 

That's all it takes for Shikamaru to let his mind make the possible moves to build his strategy. Riko always told him that he was smarter than her, that he only lacked the motivation. Well, fighting to defeat Gaara from releasing whatever chaos is plently of motivation. Plus, the Kiyomi did save from being the decoy earlier, so it's only right if he can do something to save her from being crushed by Gaara's sand. She believes in him, and to make it better, Riko never expects him to be anyone but himself, she knows what he can do and just lets him be who he is. 

Taking the account of Naruto's behavior, his skills, and his routine methods of fighting, Shikamaru then adds his own capabilities and successfully builds a solid strategy. 

"Troublesome woman, Ino will definitely have my head if I let anything happen to her idol," the Nara mumbles beneath his breath as he glances at the unconscious Kiyomi. "What I would do to be a cloud."

And finally, it's all up to them to save the day. 

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Whooooo! Well, that was Chapter 23! And yes, It was shorter than the previous chapter - oh well! Also, sorry for the prolonged wait, but I finally updated. 

So...Riko was pretty reckless with her health in this chapter, but that's what happens when she's running on no chakra and is charge of everyone. I kind of wanted you to see what kind of leader she would be - the one who selflessly risks herself to protect others, but still conscious enough to be logical and somewhat of a delegator. 

I will make sure to add more Riko and Ranko content, the next chapter will definitely show you! I'm planning on writing it in Third Pov, but surrounding around Ranko. 

Riko is a person who cares about her comrades no matter how little they interact. Though, in the future I might add her and Shino interacting more - since she has an interest in his kikaichu bugs, for educational purposes. By means she saw the way the bugs reacted with poison and as a medic, she's curious. 

Oof - she went off at Sasuke! I love it. I like how she turned out, that she isn't a girl who sees him as perfect, and amazing, and unbeatable. She saw through him, that he's reckless and only cares for himself. 

And even more so that she went off at Sakura! Also, despite pushing Sakura away, it wasn't because she still feels for her, but because she promised Kakashi that she would protect them. Riko has no more feelings for Sakura! Yes, it still stings to see her with Sasuke but that's normal rejection - like it hurts but she's moving on.

Shikamaru and Riko, I may see a future brotp happening with them! 

Anyways, don't forget to COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN!!!!

SAYONARA, and ARIGATOU, to all my readers, until next time! (please be safe and make sure to take care of yourselves!)

Word Count: 3,528

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