I sunk to the floor, my eyes unseeing the words in front of me. 

"Why would th-they want t-to kill you?" 

"I...I know too much. I'm a big problem in their eyes...so maybe they think I should die. But I--"

Clank!

A loud sound spooked me from down the hall. Instantly, the two kids were hyper-focused. 

"Time to go," Sasuke ordered. "People are coming this way." 

So existential confusion aside, I had to follow Sasuke and Hinata's lead. Guards are running close. 

I shoved the file behind my back, under the prison shirt. Then, I ran after Sasuke and Hinata. Thankfully, the other kids weren't too far from us. We regrouped and then booked it down the hall. 

*****

"We seem to be trapped in a corner with no way out. Why? Because we are surrounded," Shino said far too calmly. 

We were backed straight into the end of the hallway. There's a handful of guards rushing at us and we've been poked multiple times with sharp pointy weapons. Things are not looking good.

"Intruders located. They have an escaped prisoner with them." 

"Looks like we'll have to fight our way through," Naruto grinned, looking eager to play the game of violence. 

"Can't we talk this out?" I tried, but nobody paid me any attention. 

What followed was someone grabbing me from behind with a kunai to my throat. The kids were on defense against these fully-grown adults who were not holding back. 

Bonk!

"Tear gas!" someone yelled. A smoking rolling can dropped in the middle of the cacophony. We took advantage of the confusion and ran. 

*****

We ran and ran some more.

We stumbled down some hallways, up some stairs, down six flights, three turns, four trips, and had enough adrenaline to make our own brand of coffee IV drips. Nice and caffeinated. 

Then, finally, Sakura found the exit. 

Excellent!

 "We just need to squeeze through this vent cover, climb up the pipe, and get onto the roof. It's too risky to try the front door," Sakura exclaimed as we pried the vent cover off. 

"Then what are we waiting here for, let's go!" Naruto impatiently nudged. 

Here's the problem. I'm too tall and I can't squeeze through said vent. The kids are fine, but me trying to crawl through a vent without room to move said arms defeats the point of escaping. 

 "What are we gonna do?" Sakura fretted. "We can't leave Sensei like this!" 

"We need to hurry up soon, people are approaching," Sasuke warned. 

"We need to run!" 

So off we went, searching for another way out. 

*****

"In here!" 

"Shhhh!" 

"Stay down." 

The kids and I hunched down behind some cabinets, trying to take a breather. It's quiet for now, but sooner or later, we'll have to move again. 

"W-what should we do?" Sakura gasped for air. "We've been--running all day." 

"We checked the past several floors and junctions already," Shino muttered. "So the exit should be..."

"How about we just make our own exit?" Naruto suggested. 

"No."

"Shut up! I wasn't asking you anyway!" 

Wait a minute. 

"Who said that?" I asked, looking at the kids. "Was that you, Sasuke?" 

He rolled his eyes and pointed to the ceiling. 

"Hello." 

Tiny hands, masked face, and the voice of a child. 

Congratulations, it's a baby ANBU.