You are my Star

Chapter 8 - Neji and Tenten

The nine shinobi formed a circle around the dead ninja and checked for signs of life. They found none, and all grinned in relief. But just as they thought they were finished, more trouble came. 

Hinata landed next to Hoshiko, out of breath. "More attackers- southeast...heading for the hokage's house!"

Hoshiko heaved a sigh. "I should have known..."

Hinata waved a hand. "There's more. Attackers are- in the south west too."

"Then we'll have to split into two groups to deal with them both," concluded Shikamaru grimly.

Hinata shook her head, looking apologetic and frantic at the same time. "You'll have to split into four groups."

"What?"

Hinata pointed in four directions. "Enemies are stationed in the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest. There are currently groups of leaf shinobi holding them off, but they're few and scattered. I don't know how long our ninja can hold them off for."

Hoshiko gaped. This didn't seem real. Four more groups of attackers? "How-how many enemies are in each group?" she inquired, hoping against hope the number was small. Hinata shook her head grimly.

"More than twenty. Each." She clearly saw the despair etched on her friend's face, because she quickly added, "But they aren't very skilled, from the looks of it."

Hoshiko groaned, then, realizing there was no point in whining, straightened a bit. "Alright," she said, taking charge once more. "Neji and Tenten will take the northwest, me and Shikamaru will team up on the southwest, Kiba, Lee and Shino, take the northeast, and Naruto, Choji, and Hinata will work as a trio to take the southeast. And Kiba, we'll be needing those food pills. Again."

After all of them had taken a pill (or two), Ino, who was in the area healing the wounded, helped out the nine determined, and now exhausted ninja. "Hinata, find Genma and tell him about the situation. He needs to send reinforcements to the ones already fighting. After you're finished, find Naruto and Choji at the southeast gate."

"Of course," she said, and disappeared as quickly as she came. 

"It seems...the fight isn't over yet," Hoshiko said, slightly dejected. "We're going to have to keep going for a bit longer. But I have faith in us."

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"Watch out," warned Shikamaru, deflecting a barrage of kunai aimed at his partner's back.

Hoshiko smirked. "I should be saying the same thing to you," she laughed as she knocked aside a volley of shuriken meant for him with a barrier. 

The pair knew each other's moves well, and was the shield to the other's spear, switching between the roles seamlessly. Bodies were strewn on the ground around them. Thankfully, not very many of them were their own men, but still, time and again, a comrade would fall. Only more reason to get this over with quickly, she thought. 

With Hoshiko around, they didn't need to worry too much about injuries, and Shikamaru decreased the need for healing completely with his well-thought out attacks. The two were perfect for each other. 

Naruto's and Kiba's teams were doing about as well. They were moving more quickly, if anything, what with three people. That way, they also minimized the injuries inflicted upon the team. 

                                                                                                * * * 

Meanwhile, Neji and Tenten weren't doing so well. The group attacking them was larger, and some were more skilled. For what reason, they could only guess, but it wasn't important at the moment. The fact that both Neji and Tenten were very worn out was what was important, though. 

The pair stood back-to-back, breathing heavily. 

"What are we to do?" Tenten despaired. "All the other ninja on our side are either dead or gone to get reinforcements! We can't hold our own for much longer."

"I know, I know," replied Neji, who was having second thoughts of his own. "But I think...I think I have a plan."

"Let's hear it," said Tenten, perking up slightly. Her buns was falling apart, locks of chocolate brown hair cascading from them messily. She, like everyone else on the battlefield, was all scratched up, blood dribbling from a cut on her cheek. It was a testament to how hard she and her fellow shinobi had been working. 

"Alright, so I need you to pull a clone. Any clone is fine. Just have it stay back so that it doesn't disappear and blow our cover. I'm going to boost you into the air. You need to jump as high as you can, out of sight. Make the clone there. Let it land next to me, and have her focus on dodging. No attacking. Just make sure she doesn't get dispelled. You yourself will be hiding behind that rock." He gestured at said rock. "Then wait for my signal. I need to make sure all the leaf ninja are out of your attack range. When they are, I'll give you the signal, and I need you to do that same poison needle assault like you did at the front gate. It should take down the remaining few bastards who are still standing," he concluded. 

Tenten nodded enthusiastically, on board with the plan. "You got it." 

Neji got on one knee and placed his knitted together fingers on his leg. "I'll give you a boost." He watched as his teammate backed up and took a running start. She pushed off from the ground into the air, jumping high and out of sight. Seconds later, a few kunai came down, along with Tenten. Or at least, her clone. Nice, he thought. Even sent an attack down so as not to seem suspicious. He hadn't thought of it, and was glad she had. Neji looked up and just barely saw Tenten disappear behind the cover of rocks. 

He smiled. All was going according to plan. He watched and waited for the other leaf shinobi to get out of the weapons mistress's attack range. 

And finally, they did. He held up his hand, and a bombardment of needles, slick with poison, pierced through every one of the remaining enemies. They gaped in shock, turning their heads to see who had attacked them. The last thing they saw before they slumped to the ground, dead, was the softly smiling face of Tenten.

That was all good and jolly, but Neji knew something was wrong. It looked as if she was having trouble keeping her eyes open, and blood was leaking from the corner of her mouth. Then she fell forward, unconscious.