Once Again (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Sequel to Another Take) (Complete)

Ch. 26: Angel With A Shotgun

~They say before you start a war, you better know what you're fighting for~

Third Person POV

On the battlefield spikes protruded from everywhere, sometimes with a shinobi or two impaled upon their lengths. The remaining shinobi stared wide-eyed at their fallen comrades, not having anticipated this amount of strength from Madara, Obito, or the Jubi.

Kiyomi's eyes scanned the dead shinobi, searching for any familiar faces. None appeared until she saw the dead Neji on the ground beside Naruto. Kiyomi's hurt for a moment, pitying his friends, but then her eyes continued their sweep.

There was a good bit of talking going on below, but Kiyomi ignored that, deeming it unimportant. It was probably just Madara and Obito trying to change Naruto, and Naruto not wanting to change his mind. The usual.

"That blond's got a strong will and a stronger female friend," Jiyuu commented from beside her, obviously listening in to their words. "Is that the guy that was your teammate? He doesn't seem like someone who would betray his friends." Jiyuu's tone was a bit confused, because when Kiyomi had told her story, the boy called Naruto was one of the ones to turn against her. But seeing him now, she wasn't sure how he was capable of doing that.

"He's not," Kiyomi mumbled, hooded eyes now watching Naruto. "He's the kind of person whose friends mean the world to them. But we disagreed over one key facet of his life- Sasuke. He had an outburst, then I left. It all seems so stupid looking back now, though I... I can't forgive him. But for this war, I'm willing to forget."

~Flashback~

The blond's normally-blue eyes had begun to have a tint of red to them. "Kiyomi..." Naruto growled lowly, beginning to bare his teeth. That one word hurt Kiyomi more than anything else, because he didn't use the nickname she had grown accustomed to. "Traitor," he accused, staring straight at the purple-eyed girl. "You're no true Leaf shinobi. We take care of our comrades."

~End Flashback~

"... What about after the war?" Jiyuu ventured the question hesitantly. "What are you going to do then?"

Kiyomi was silent for a long time. Then she exhaled. "I'll deal with that when it comes. Let's win the war first." Jiyuu left it at that, and they both lapsed into silence.

To be honest, Kiyomi did have an idea of what she was going to do after the war was over. It wasn't something she wanted to share, because she knew people would get hurt because of her decision. But it was the best course of action.

Provided she didn't die during the war, of course.

Below them the action was finally returning as the Eight-Tails leapt at the Jubi, shooting a Tailed Beast Ball at the creature's mouth and creating a huge explosion. Naruto seemed to have recovered a bit from his friend's death and grabbed Hinata's hand, a chakra cloak flaring to life around the two of them.

The chakra was spreading from person to person thanks to some clones Naruto created. Soon all of the allied shinobi had cloaks of red chakra surrounding them, and many were healing because of it.

Orion was the first to notice the clone coming towards them, and quickly warned the girls. No matter how the clone had known of their presence, they were all agreed that it couldn't leave. Then the element of surprise would be lost.

The clone crested the rise of the rock they perched on, and his eyes widened at the sight of two Elemental Beasts and three humans, one of which he thought was dead. "Kiy-"

Orion, besides being the first to notice, was also the first to react, drawing his sword and slashing through the clone with a single move. When both girls looked at him accusingly, he only shrugged. "What?" he demanded. "Did'ja want him to know about us?"