"Ha! Ha! Hee... !" Ryuu exclaimed, slashing down at their numbers.

"The brat's too fast!" one spat. "Then we'll break his legs!" The other announced, jumping right into Ryuu's downward slash. Blood spurted out from the enemy, the sword lodging in his shoulder. Ryuu tried to yank it free, but it was stuck, "What the..." The enemy chuckled, "I may not be any good at it, but... My bones will slow you down!" The man declared in a crazed state. His rib cage expanded, grabbing hold of the blade. "Now to break your legs!" Another declared, lunging from behind Ryuu. He gasped...

'Katsu signed on. Miyuki come in. Have you found Ryuu yet?' He telepathically communicated. She was running with Akio at her side, 'Miyuki, signed on. I'm almost there.' She anxiously replied. 'Well, hurry! Dad's moved out the squads. The battle on the frontlines are starting. If he doesn't get there soon... He'll be boxed out by the Earth Style Users!' Katsu stressed. She clenched her teeth, 'Don't worry, I'm on it.' She assured him. 'Alright. Your Squad is on its way. I'll let you know when the time comes.' Katsu informed her. 'Roger that. Stay safe.' She replied. 'You too.' And with that, their channel died. She couldn't help but grow frustrated, 'Ryuu... Where are you?'

Just then, white lightning crept up from the sky. They both halted, "That lightning..." Akio wondered. "It's my brother. Come on!" She ushered, running faster than ever before!

Ryuu gasped, releasing his grip off the handle of his blade and then shouted out, " A blast of white light emitted from his hands, sending a high voltage straight into the enemy's stomach and out, into the sky. It was wide enough to electrocute most of his middle body and caused a screaming cry. Not just him, but the three other Shinobi around him. All had fallen prey to his lightning attack. Ryuu released the Jutsu, and the man dropped to the ground unconscious and twitching. Smoke came off his fried skin. Ryuu backed away from the four and unsheathed his other katana. Three more Kaguya charged in from behind, screaming in rage. As he turned his attention to them, the three who were slightly electrocuted had done the same. "Tch!" He stepped back, preparing to take the six on. "Ryuu!"

"Hmm?" He looked passed the three charging towards his right and spotted the face and waving arm of his sister. "Miyuki." He realised. "Get out of the way!" Another voice yelled, and he instinctively used a wind boost to jump skywards. "!" Ryuu watched from above, confused. Akio was the one shooting speeding bullets at the enemies. Balls of water blasted out the tips of his ten-spread fingers. Three of them exclaimed upon contact and abruptly fell to the ground, while the other three managed to dodge.

"Ryuu!" He looked to his side, just in time to see Miyuki collide into him. "Gotcha!" She exclaimed, pushing him to fall to his far left, and avoid the flying bullets. Akio continued to fire in attempts to shoot down the rest of the Shinobi below. She fell with Ryuu to the ground. Baffled Kaguya Shinobi were scattering, trying to avoid Akio's rapid water fire. "Miyuki!??" Ryuu was both surprised and relieved as she got off him. The bullets stopped, and the three men turned their attention to the pair.

They quickly got to their feet, "Get out of here. We'll finish them off." She instructed, fixing her eyes on their opponents. "But-" She cut him off, "Dad needs you on the frontlines. Now move!" She demanded, looking back at him, fierce with stubbornness. He gave her a worried look, biting down on his urge to protest. He then nodded, and used his Wind Acrobatics. Dashing off towards the exit, he headed to where the real war began. "Get back here, you brat!" One of the three men spat. She snapped her neck to face them, and raised a fist full of needles, "Sorry... But you'll have to get through me." Her pink scarf didn't intimidate this time. Their smirks grew only faces. "Don't forget about me... !" Akio expelled at Miyuki's side. As the chakra in his stomach burst out his mouth, it headed to the three in the form of a large torrent of water. Miyuki smirked to herself, "Hn. Not bad. Here, let me help with that. !" With her free hand, she reached out above the water spraying out Akio's mouth. Purple lightning sparked and burst forth in the form of a sneering wolf. It ran over the torrent of water, reaching the enemies and exploding in a burst of electricity, water and flames.

"Whoa..." She said in awe, as they released their Jutsu. Akio wiped his wet mouth clean, "My Jutsu is made from both water and oil. Your lightning just made it highly flammable too." He winked. She grinned, "Cool."

As Akio grinned back at her, one of the Kaguya members had managed to miss part of their combo-attack. He fell, screaming from the fiery explosion that had caught the left side of his face and body. He rolled around, frantically trying to escape it. His other two comrades were left melting, and burning away. Akio smirked, satisfied at the scene, when suddenly... The Shinobi Ryuu had electrocuted earlier popped up from behind Miyuki and grabbed hold of her neck. She exclaimed in surprise as her pink scarf was pulled down, revealing her lower face. "Needles" Akio exclaimed. The enemy chuckled as he leaned near her ear, "I'm still alive." He taunted, raising a kunai to her neck. Her surprise fell, "Hn. Your mistake then."

"Huh?" He questioned in confusion. She let go of her fist full of needles and grabbed hold of the arm he had on her neck. Taking in a deep breath, she held tightly, "!" The man suddenly cried out in pain. Purple lightning boomed from her skin, and spread all around them both. She clenched harshly to her teeth as she fed her Jutsu more chakra. The howl of her lightning whaled harder. "Aah-a-AAH!" The Shinobi exclaimed in horrific pain. His entire body surged an a even higher voltage then before. His smoking clothes turned to frying black skin, until he could no longer scream.

Miyuki released the Jutsu and let go of her grip on his arm. He dropped his kunai and was dead. Falling with a rough thud onto the soil, and zombie-like expression plastered on his face.

Akio stood memorized by the colour of electricity she was encased in a second ago. She looked up, curious at the silence around her, "What?" He snapped back to reality, "I take back calling you adorable. You're... Beautiful." He swooned. She was taken aback, but then fell into a coy smile. "Thanks." She said, placing a strand of hair behind her ear. Akio grew a smile of his own too. But just then... Five shots were fired.

It came from behind Akio, and embedded into his back. His smile fell into a dumbfounded expression. Miyuki drew in a gasp of shock!

He slowly turned over his shoulder, and look to his back. His eyes widened. Five more shot into him, and he stood stunned. Ten small bone rods were lodged in his back. Blood began seeping through the back of his shirt and shoulders. He turned back slowly and faced Miyuki. She raised her hands to her mouth and slowly shook her head. She couldn't process what she was witnessing. "N-ne-ne" Akio stuttered, when suddenly he coughed out blood. Miyuki gasped, "Akio!" She screamed out and ran to him. He went into a daze and fell to his knees, "Needles." He croaked, falling to his side. She jumped to her knees and slide in the soil. She managed to catch his head in her hands just before hitting the ground.

A little ways behind them, was the Kaguya Shinobi who had been half-burnt by their oily explosive attack. He laid with his arm stretched out towards Akio. His hand spread wide, as he laid flat on his stomach and chin.

Miyuki shakily raised Akio's head into her lap. Her lips trembled as she tried to speak. The Kaguya Shinobi let out a dark chuckle. More bones grew out from his fingertips, aiming for her. "Heh-heh-Uh!" His chuckles halted in shock. A needle had launched right in between his eyes. Miyuki stared at him with her outstretched hand, fuelled with bitterness and hatred in tear-stained eyes. His head dropped to the ground, dead. He never even had a chance to shoot them again. She slurped in heavy breaths, trying to calm her flaring rage. He groaned, and whispered out, "Needles..." She gasped and turned her attention back to him. "Don't you worry, Bullets. I'll get you out of this. I'm your Captain and I'll get you out of this!" She assured both herself and him.

She turned him on his side to view his back. She couldn't help but wince at his wounds, 'I'll have to get it out of him first. Otherwise healing him will be pointless.' She thought. With that, she grabbed one between her fingers and tried to yank it free. "Aah!" Akio exclaimed. She stopped yanking and covered her mouth, 'The bone must've hooked into him on the inside.' She shut her teary eyes, unable to accept his fate. "Needles..." He whispered from her lap. 'If I pull it out now, I might puncture a vital organ. No matter how many ways I look at he...' Tears streamed. She had never felt so helpless!

"Miyuki." Akio more firmly demanded. She snapped her eyes open, and turned him over, "Akio, I... You're losing too much blood, I can't... Oh, Akio, I'm so sorry. Just so sorry..." She cried, frantically shaking her head.

Her tears fell onto his face, and he gave a weak smile in return, "It's okay. Really. I was a dead man walking anyway." He chuckled, more blood coughing out. She opened her eyes, "W-what?" She gently sturred. "Needles... Me and five other ANBU... Were secretly ordered to stir up the Kaguya Clan to get you to fight." He confessed between his grunts of growing discomfort. "You... You were what?" Her quiet voice could not hide her disbelief. He gave her a compassionate frown, "Yeah... I was on my way to tell you before all this happened. But I guess I- Tch!- Grew a conscious too late." He explained, wincing in pain. "B-but, why? That's treason isn't it?" Baffled with disbelief, she couldn't make sense of any of it. "Gees, Miyuki. Do I have to spell everything out for you?" He teasingly smirked. She averted her gaze, unable to answer him. "Man, I wish I could've kissed you before all this." He said in regret. Miyuki looked up at him in surprise.

"Don't give me that look, Captain. I'm on my death bed here." He half-joked. "Don't say that..." Her small voice trailed off.

Akio gave a weak smile, "You know, when I joined the ANBU... All I ever did was look out for myself. After all, my Clan was dead. And my dreams were to protect no one, but myself." Akio said, changing the subject. She forced herself to look away from him, fighting the tears streaming down her face. "Till you came along, and ruined everything. Even changed my... My dreams." He grunted out. "Stop talking like you're going to die. Just please, stop..." She pleaded, finally meeting his eyes. His body began trembling, and beads of cold sweat flushed on his face, "Sorry, Captain. But it looks like I'm going to go either way. Unless..." The tremblings were getting worse. Her eyes overflowed with tears, "Akio, please... Please, just stop." She whispered out. "Unless, you live out my new dream." He continued. "What new dream?" She croaked in defeat, accepting that he wouldn't listen to her.

"If you... If you protect yourself, you're sure to die... If you protect your Clan, it'll just go extinct. Trust me, I know... And protecting the Village only causes wars like when my grandpa died so... So..." The life in his eyes began to fade, and so was his train of thought. "So?" She quietly asked, watching it happen. "Right, so my new dream... Is to protect the world." She was a little confused, "Protect the world??" She asked in small surprise. "That'll lead to peace, won't it? I'd like to... To think... That it..." His eyes grew heavy, and his skin turned a new shade of white. "Akio." Miyuki called to him. His eyelids slightly raised upon recognition. "Promise me you'll... Promise me you'll live out my new dream and protect the world." He whispered out. She wanted to argue with him. But when she opened her mouth, her breath caught in her throat and she closed it. She regretfully looked away, crying in silence.

"Please Miyuki..." He whispered from her lap, unable to meet her eyes. She forced herself to speak, choking back on her tears, "I... I promise."

Suddenly, a cold hand cupped her cheek. She gasped and looked to its owner, "Then I'll live on through you." He smiled. Her eyes gradually widened, realising what he meant. She then raised her free hand from his chest, and placed it on the hand he had on her cheek. She gently nuzzled into it, musing in small content. A smile graced her face, and widened his own too. Then, in what seemed to feel like slow motion... His hand slipped out of hers. It left her cheek, and fell to the ground. She gasped and watched as it did. His eyes rolled back, and he sighed out one, last, final breath.

She put her hand over her mouth, shaking her head back and forth. She denied what laid in her lap. "No... No! Akio..." She flung herself over his chest, and gripped tightly to his silent heart. She hiccupped over his lifeless body, "A-ki-o." She continued to cry, "Akio, no... Nooo!" She whaled, clutching to him.

Suddenly, she stopped. She slowly raised her tear-filled eyes to meet his face. She caressed his cheek with the back of her hand, and started to sing, "I can turn it on... Be good machine... I can hold the weight of worlds, if that's what you need. Be your everything..." She then cupped his cheek and hunched over to meet his forehead. She closed her eyes as she relaxed, and sang on, "I can do it... I can do it... I'll get through it...!" Thunder boomed. She raised her head and sang up to the darkening sky, "But I'm only human! And I bleed when I fall down. I'm only human. And I crash, and I break down." She looked down at his seemingly peaceful state. She shook her head as she frustratedly sang on, "Your words in my head. Knives in my heart. You build me up and then I fall apart. Cause I'm only huma-ah-ah-ah-an..." Tears weld up in her eyes, and fell like the silk her last note carried.

She couldn't sing anymore, her sobs returning to her. So, she whispered out the uncertainty she held for her promise to him instead, "I'm only human..."

😭😭