Honestly, I was surprised it took this long for someone to come and exact vengeance on me for what I've done.

Three years of sin stained on me and finally someone is here for revenge. It's rightful too. But I can't die. I can't get caught. Not yet. Until Itachi is safe, until Sasuke is home, until Naruto is out of the dangers of the Akatsuki, until then, I cannot atone for any of the crimes I committed.

Afterwards I will. I'll take any sentence, punishment, or execution.

But not now.

The man in the middle emitted even more hostility. Pure hatred burning in his eyes. This is very personal for him. Of course. I murdered the grandson of the Tsuchikage.

He lifted his hand a bit. Chakra swirling in it. He didn't weave any signs, so what could it be? Ah! I turned to see the giant shuriken move our way.

I grabbed the back of Haru's and Hawaki's shirt and threw them down as I ducked, avoiding it as it returned to the man. He caught it effortlessly, never taking his eyes off my own.

This could be problematic. But there are three of them and three of us.

Haru's plenty strong, and although I haven't seen Hawaki at full power, I'm sure he can handle his own. Doesn't mean this'll be a walk in the park. But neither was Tsuyoshi.

"You killed the grandson of the Tsuchikage?" Hawaki whispered. I shrugged nonchalantly at that. I did.

I did because Sasori ordered me, but that doesn't change the fact that I chose to follow his orders. So I won't make any excuses. Besides, if he's gonna tag along, then he must see me at my absolute worst side.

I'm not a good person.

He'll learn that, here and now. "Earth Style: Hailing Boulders!" The other male fired off the first attack, hurling boulders our way.

My chains exited my back and I quickly created a barrier around us. The boulders shattered against my shield. "So how are we doing this?" Haru asked, ready for the fight.

"You want the big one Crazy Girl?" Hawaki asked. I examined the three in front of us. The biggest problem is definitely the leader. The other two aren't pushovers either, but I'll face the deadliest one.

"Haru, you have the big guy. Hawaki, the girl's all yours." I stated, grabbing a kunai from my pouch.

They both smirked. "Aye, aye captain." With that, everyone surged forward towards their intended opponents. Apparently the other side thought the same thing as we clashed.

The leader's eyes glared straight into mine. Not an ounce of hesitation. This is going to be a long battle, I can already tell.

His giant shuriken is emitting his chakra. Perfectly covered and there's something else in there. The type of metal has more earthy elements, and based on his jutsu's he's got the ability to manipulate earth. But that can't last forever.

Although it's also a hindrance. As of now, it's a boomerang. Even worse if he has accurate control over it from afar.

We used each other to push us away from the other and threw our weapons. Normally his larger weapon would have moved mine away and continued, but I'm stronger than normal people so they just clashed and fell.

Of course his soon returned when he beckoned it back with his hand. I quickly weaved my hands. "Vacuum Bullets!" I fired off a barrage of intense air bullets.

He weaved signs of his own. "Rock Wall!" He shouted, slamming his hands onto the ground and creating a fortified wall. My bullets chipped away at his wall and pierced through it.

He quickly abandoned his wall and went around, throwing his giant shuriken.

I jumped up and over it before noticing it wasn't the real one. And this one has an explosive tag on it! It was set off and I was flung up because of the blast.

He quickly appeared behind me and swung his shuriken down, still holding on. I quickly twisted my body and avoided being pierced by it, but it did slice across my back and side.

While I twisted I brought my leg up and connected it with his neck, making him splutter. But he moved his body so I wouldn't twist it and we landed away from one another.

He didn't waste a second to lunge at me, his weapon in hand. He's good. Quick to react and always thinking about his next strike. He's smart, no doubt a natural leader.

Kinda reminds me of Shikamaru actually. Except he aint got nothing on Nara.

I threw my kunai at him and jumped back. "Haru! Mamoru!" I called. Immediately, without looking away from his opponent, he threw me a scroll.

I quickly unravelled it and slammed my hand onto it, my chakra unlocking it. I then pulled out a katana.

The first katana I have owned. The one I took from Haru in the Chunin Exams. Because of what I had vowed, I gave it the name Mamoru.

I rushed at my opponent and swing the blade down with force. He managed to block it but struggled against it. Pushing him back I continued to strike, not giving him a chance to do anything but block.

I have to make sure he keeps that damn shuriken on him. If it goes into the air it'll just be that more troublesome.

These ninja are strong. Strongest opponents I've had in a long time actually. Even fighting that mass of ninja in the Land of Lightning's got nothing on them. Not even a fraction.

I slammed my sword against his weapon, knocking it out of his hands. "Keigo!" His teammate shouted to my opponent in worry.

I swung again, aiming for Keigo's throat. He coated his hand in chakra and his shuriken flew back up and in front of him, blocking my attack.

Tch. Wha-I moved back, but a second too late. Keigo had moved out from behind his shuriken and thrust his tanto towards me. His blade slid smoothly against my side, ripping the skin there.

Damn it! I thrust my blade again, injuring his arm. Unfortunately he moved back in time that I couldn't lop the thing off.

I held my katana up with one hand, my other pressing down on my wound. Luckily I dodged in time.

"Miyuna!" Haru shouted in worry. I didn't take my eyes off Keigo. "I'm fine! Stay focused." I barked, blocking his shuriken he threw my way.

While I'm holding off the shuriken he ran at me, tanto in hand. Gritting my teeth I allowed chains to exit my back and block his attack. "You're not the only one who has extra hands." I growled, swinging them and him away from me.

I took a second to glance down at my wound and froze as something in my throbbed. Blood oozed out of my wound. The vibrant red dripped down my side.

I moved the hand I used to press on the wound up, seeing the blood up close and personal. My skin began to buzz with excitement.

Make it more red. The voice in my head whispered. My eyes burned slightly and the thought of it made me even more-no! Stop!

Grunting, I shut my eyes tight, willing the thoughts to disappear. C'mon not now. "Crazy Girl!"

Ah! I dropped to my knees, avoiding the shuriken and moved the katana up to block Keigo's blade. "Can you really afford to lose focus? I'm not someone you should drop your guard around, murderer!"

My moment of distraction seemed to anger him. He's lost some composure. The way he said murderer, there was a snap to that. And earlier too, when he mentioned Tsuyoshi.

I mean I did kill the grandson of the Tsuchikage, but he seems especially furious. Are they just that angry about the grandson?

Or . . . now that I look at him, he does seem to be about the same age as Tsuyoshi.

Perhaps they went to the academy together. That would explain his overwhelming hatred and bloodlust towards me.

Fighting someone is simple. But fighting someone with a vendetta against me is another level. When people fight because of personal reasons they're stronger, determined, and unpredictable.

We clashed blades again, both of us continuing our assault on the other.

My mind reeled, trying to think of a plan to defeat him. We'll get nowhere if we continue to fight with blades. I need to think of something, and quick.

Think Miyuna. What can you do? What have you been trained to do? Subdue your enemy, take them out.

To subdue Keigo, I'll need to take out his damn shuriken. And then how do I take him out? Something he wouldn't easily predict. An idea popped into my head. That could work.

I jumped up into the sky and threw my sword down. As I expected, he deflected it. While he did that I quickly weaved some hand signs. "Lightning Arrow!" I shouted, pointing my index finger on him.

Or more precise, his feet.

The lightning shot down quick and he barely managed to escape by a hair. The area where it had struck shook violently and burned.

I landed on higher ground and glanced at the boys, seeing Haru uses his twin curved blades and Hawaki some sound attack. I pointed at Keigo's head, knowing he'd dodge. "Lightning Arrow!" I shouted, shooting it off again.

Like I thought, Keigo dodged to the left since I was more positioned towards the right.

I pointed at the new spot, repeating the jutsu, at his arm. I kept him moving, firing off the same attack. All while analyzing the layout.

"Hawaki." I whispered. He had explained his perception of his sound abilities, and I know he can hear me.

I whispered to him and jumped to the side, avoiding Keigo's shuriken. I weaved my hands together again. "Lightning Arrow!" I shouted, shooting at him again.

"Shooting off that lame attack over and over again isn't going to help you!" He shouted.

I landed next to my sword and picked it up again, eyes narrowed. "DIE!" He threw his shuriken, except it vanished.

What?! I turned quickly, seeing it had appeared behind me. Now or never I guess.

I jumped up, over where it'll go. While it began to pass underneath me I thrust my sword down, through the whole of where it is and pierced it into the ground. The shuriken spun madly around the blade, unable to escape. But even this won't be enough. He'll just control it and make it go up and over the hilt.

I need him without his weapon without actually holding it.

Pursing my lips, I placed my bloodied hand on the hilt. I felt my blood throb and began to heat up as I willed the blood to expand and harden in a saucer above the sword.

Now his shuriken can't return.

I turned back to face him and glanced at Hawaki. He nodded. My gaze flickered to Haru who did the same. I weaved my hands again and pointed at him, aiming at the spot behind him yet again. "Lightning Arrow!" The shot went out, just as my ears rang loudly due to Hawaki's sound attack.

The whole place shook due to our 'attacks'. Hawaki continued to mess with his sound abilities, making things roar in different places and shaking up his opponent with it, along with making sure it reached our opponents as well.

"How you defeated Tsuyoshi with such weak attacks is beyond me!" Keigo shouted, running at me, ignoring the shockwaves of Hawaki's sound attack.

I didn't move, just stayed still. "You'll pay for what you've done! Ah!"

Too late.

The rumbling that sounded and the earth shaking wasn't in fact Hawaki's continuous sound waves. I watched as a mountain of rocks and earth slammed straight into Keigo without any mercy.

Haru and Hawaki quickly flickered to my side as the slide struck his teammates as well.

I roughly hit my hand to my wound, making it bleed even more. My blood boiled furiously under my skin and I willed the blood flowing out of me to create more and form a wall to the side, just as the rockslide struck us.

I hardened the blood into a curved wall and rock and earth moved around us and down the mountain.

Haru had two spears in hand and stabbed them into the earth to the other side of us and gripped onto them, his back to us so we're stabilized.

After a bit the rockside subsided. My hands twitched, wanting to use more blood. Wanting to continue with Blood Release. Instead I pursed my lips tightly and deactivated, making the curved wall liquify and fall.

The fight would've ended quicker if you had used blood to begin with. It didn't even have to be yours. It's much better when it's someone else's. My eye twitched and I glanced at the puddle of blood. Seeing my reflection.

Well, the other me. She grinned maliciously and I glared at her. I need it to stop. Especially when in battle.

Ignoring her, I glanced down hill, spotting the top part of Keigo's face under a mountain of rocks.

I walked over to him, noticing blood pouring from his temple. I can't see much else of him. But it's safe to say his limbs must be crushed.

"D-Damn it. How?" He growled out. I tilted my head to the side a bit. "I remembered something a friend said. 'The wise shinobi carefully scouts the physical layout of the battlefield and never loses sight of his position on it.'"

The memory of the preliminaries of the Chunin Exams had popped into my mind. It was one of the only battles that stuck out to me.

"You see, you should have been the one to use it considering this is your territory. But you and your friends were filled with so much hate and resentment it completely went over your head. My Lightning Arrows weren't meant for you. They hit exactly where I needed them to. Think. We're on a mountain. What dangers do mountains have?"

Realization flashed across his face. "Rockslides. You struck at the weakest points and dislodged the structure. Then you used that Sound Shinobi to use his attacks so we wouldn't think twice about the sound or the ground shaking."

"Bi~n~go!" Hawaki grinned as Haru smirked down at him. I nodded a bit.

"That's right. Fighting your opponent isn't only swords and jutsu's. You must use your surroundings as well. You would have known that and even thought of it first. If you weren't so blinded by feelings."

The hatred didn't die in his eyes. It's true. With his control over Earth, he should have been the one to use this technique without even thinking about it. Guess it goes to show how much personal feelings gets in the way.

He's clearly a strong ninja. Stronger than Iruka, and I'm willing to go stronger then Kurenai-Sensei as well. Possibly Asuma-Sensei, but I've never seen him fight before.

Either way, he should have been able to wound me more then he did, like Tsuyoshi.

He coughed up some blood and I believe struggled to get out. "Let's go boys." I turned my back, beginning to head forward again.

"You killed my friend." I stopped briefly at his words. "How would you react if someone killed yours." He barked out.

Images of my friends flowed into my mind. Sakura, Haru, Shikamaru, Hawaki, Choji, the rest of the Rookie Ten. If any of them had died, would I have fought with my feelings?

Most definitely.

"I will kill you. Miyuna Uzumaki." He gritted out. "I'll kill you and avenge Tsuyoshi!" I could feel the boys eyes on me, questioning what I'll do.

I couldn't help the small smile that slipped onto my face and turned back to him. "Continue to chase after me. I welcome your hostility. Kill me. But only if you can." With that I turned again and began to run towards the direction where I believe Itachi is headed.

The boys followed close behind me as I ran. Keigo is right to want to kill me. You reap what you sow. And I definitely did some damage to him. Him and a lot of other people. And I'll gladly welcome it.

But not yet. Not yet.

Tell me. I bit my lip to prevent the groan of annoyance from passing my lips. The voice ever present in my mind.

If by some chance you do manage to save all of your friends, will you simply allow those you've wronged to kill you? Will you surrender? What do you really think will happen after? That is, if you even manage to succeed.

If. If I manage to succeed. It's true. I don't know what I'll do. But . . . I can't worry about that. Not now. I'll figure it out later.

Like you've figured me out?

I couldn't say anything it retaliation to it. Because it has a point. I don't know what I'll do or what my future holds. But what I do know is the present. 

Huh? "STOP!" I shouted, stopping in place and spreading my arms wide, making the boys slam into them.

The ground just up ahead burst open and out popped a familiar man. One with blood coating him and a bone in his leg sticking straight out. But he stood tall and unwavering.

My eyes widened in disbelief. How is he even standing. His bones should all be broken. And not to mention his internal organs. 

Yet Keigo stood as if his injuries weren't even there.

The hatred in his eyes burned impossibly brighter. Unfathomable rage coursing through him, keeping him up and moving. Any composure he had in the beginning is long gone.

Now he's like a beast. 

He held his hands up, and boulders levitated at his will filling the sky with them. Well isn't this pleasant.