Inoichi's lips thinned before he turned to the thickening group of civilians and gennin, he spotted his wife, holding Ino, in a hug, as if trying to shield her from the madness.
He walked over to them and knelt, Shikato and Chouza, taking this as their own cue to say goodbye to their own families.
Inoichi gently pried his wife away from Ino, the girl immediately latched onto his neck and began crying into his shoulder. He gently rubbed the back of her head and began making soothing sounds to calm her. 'Shhh, shhh, princess. Its alright." He cooed.
Chouza knelt in-front of his visibly confused son and placed his firm hands over his shoulder. "Chouji…I need you to listen very carefully…you listening." He said smiling softly, hiding his worry. Somehow, he just knew, that this day marked his death but he couldn't bring himself to say goodbye. He took out a rather large scroll from his pouch and handed it to his son. "I need you to keep this safe for me okay?" He said handing it to the boy who was still trying to grasp the situation.
He smiled, looking down at his son. "I cant fight with that big scroll on my back, so I need you to keep it safe okay. It has all of our clan Jutsu so you take good care of it got it?" He then winked in a mischievous kind of way. "Tell ya what, if you do a good job, you might even be able to learn a few of those."
Chouji spoke up now. "But…but…why don't you come with us?" Tears began to pool over his eyes, trailing down his painted cheeks. And Chouza felt a pang in his chest but smiled anyway. "Hey now." He admonished slightly. "What kinda friend would I be if I left your uncles Inoichi and Shikato here to fight by themselves."
"But…" He began to protest before Chouza cut him off again. He couldn't hear his sons protests for he knew he might just give in.
He leaned in and whispered in his ear conspiratorially. "The real reason is that those two are so clumsy they might just let one of the bad guys get past them and chase after you guys. But with me here, they'll never be able to go after you." He said smiling. Still seeing Chouji's tearful face he added. "Don't worry, once we're done I'll be right behind you." He couldn't recall having ever lied to his son before.
"You promise?" The chubby boy spoke sniffling.
Chouza nodded."I promise son." It was surprisingly easy here. He reached forward and hugged his boy fiercely, knowing somewhere that it would be the last time he would do it. He stood, hiding his tears. "Now you make sure you stay with Ino and Shikamaru, keep them safe to eh." He said, smiling a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Chouji nodded and strapped the scroll to his back.
Chouza ruffled the boys hair..
Shikato looked at his son, who averted his gaze down to the floor. He sighed and rubbed his head. "I won't sugar coat it, you've probably figured out what this is anyway." He had once prided himself on his sons smarts, but now he was cursing it to the seventh hell.
Shikamaru nodded biting his lip to keep from crying he choked out. "The rear guard."
Shikato nodded, taking out a scroll, handing it to him. "This has all of our Jutsu, learn them well." He said before pulling his son into a hug. "I love you son."
Shikamaru, slowly wrapped his arms around the man's waist and stifled his sobs against wife, Yoshino looked on, crying silently, she knew that this had always been a risk when she married him…but expecting something and actually seeing it were two different things.
"You take care of your mother…alright Shikamaru." It was an order, not a question. The youth nodded brokenly into his stomach.
Shikato sighed and looked to the ceiling, blinking back his own tears.
Such…is the troublesome life of a Shinobi.
Tsume hugged her daughter and pulled away with a somber expression, Hana stared at her mother, pushing down her tears. She too, realized what this was. "You take care of your brother." Tsume said.
Hana nodded, wishing in the back of her mind that this wasn't happening, that it was all just a bad dream. Tsume looked to Kiba, who was pulling in more civilians from the east courtyard. "He's too young to understand." She said somberly.
"Princess…" Inoichi said slowly prying her off, meeting her puffy red eyes. "Princess listen to me, I need you to go with your mother, Shikamaru and Chouji."
She began to shake her head, her blond hair flailing around wildly. "No…I want to stay with you daddy…" She sobbed more, her arms tightening almost painfully around him. Again he pried her off, slipping his clan scroll into her pouch this time since he knew that in this hysterical state she wouldn't take it.
He took a breath to say more but just as he did, the wall down the hall exploded in a cloud of dust and fire. He pushed Ino into her mother, who wrapped her arms around the girl holding her as she screamed for her father. He placed a kiss on her head before pulling away.
"GO! GO NOW!" He heard Tsume yell to her daughter who began hastily leading the civilians and gennin out through the east courtyard.
"NO! NO! DADDY!" He heard Ino yell as Shikamaru and Sakura dragged her away. His fists clenched in effort not to run after her and hug her again.
He finally turned and faced their attacker.
Clad in crimson and black, he stood in the center of the burning debris, wisps of red chakra lashing out at everything around him, ruby red eyes that glowed darkly beneath his hood. In one hand, a bloodied scimitar, in the other, the battered and bloody form of Sarutobi Asuma.
With a casual flick he tossed the elite Jounin aside, his head hitting the wall with a crunch wether it was from the wood, or from his skull, none knew.
Naruto's red eyes stared past the three dozen or so ninja between him, and his prime targets. Inuzuka Tsume, Akimichi Chouza, Nara Shikato, Yamanaka Inoichi and Hyuuga Hiashi.
He stepped forward, immediately backhanding one ninja that approachedsending him into the wall, followed by an upwards slice to a second ninja and a spin kick into another man that sent him flying down the hall and crashing into another of his allies.
He grabbed another ninja by the wrist and spun around, swinging him like a bat, with his flailing legs he kicked two others and slammed into another until he finally crashed out one of the windows. He latched onto the throat of another ninja and with a quick snap, broke his neck.
Hihashi watched the bloody display and snarled as his men backed away in terror. "Cowards, twenty men run from just one?"
An Anbu, one of the few that had joined his faction looked to him and spoke plainly. "The narrow hallway nullifies our numbers, and no one wants to face those blades.."
More were cut down, dozens more. Until finally, the blond's path of death ended as he stood before the five clan heads. The five individuals that stood before him and his ambition.
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