Because, I Love You All

6. The Red Orca [Revised]

Nara Tanake very well knew Uchiha Uana was going to murder him. He gritted his teeth, tied the bandage tighter around his thigh, and muttered a silent prayer to the first Hokage to please, let this work.

"You are not helping, taicho," Chiye Mai whispered as she heaved Kawahara onto her back, "you're meant to give us confidence."

Tanake shot Mai a glare. He didn't know whether Uchiha Uana had purposefully sent him with Kawahara and Chiye, the two most talkative people he'd worked with, but his glare screamed that he was on edge. Chiye Mai blinked, pulled back her lips, and acquiesced into silence.

They stared intently into the darkness ahead, hoping the enemies chose to close in instead of give chase.

The bushes rustled. Tanake bit back a wry smile, immediately lashing out with his shadow. The enemies were giving chase, which meant his team had less time to position themselves. He flung a wave at Chiye, and in response, Chiye Mai stabbed a kunai into the ground.

"You realise we know you're a Nara, right?" A hollow voice traveled faintly through the darkness.

Nara Tanake would have rolled his eyes had he been in control of the situation. Instead, he immediately responded to the taunt.

"So?" He muttered, immediately regretting the poor answer.

Beams of light shone down into the forest, illuminating them from all sides. Chiye released a quiet groan at the pain in her eyes, while Nara Tanake tried his best to look through the blinding white. His eyes barely captured three figures walking towards him. The light was coming from above. They were so, so screwed.

"You do realise I know you know I'm a Nara, right?" He bit back one more time, with false confidence. Chiye rolled her eyes, despite the adrenaline pumping through her veins. "That I knew you were going to offset my jutsu?"

A sudden roar, and a scream, and sounds of crunches scattered in front of him as Saka Rena chomped down on one of their necks. His teeth elongated as soon as he had a secure hold, and with a flick of his head, tore out the shinobi's thyroid. The forest erupted into fleeing animals and insects. Blood splattered across the white leaves.

But the light was still above them, and Nara Tanake's hands were tied. There couldn't be more shadows without a shadow in the first place. He shook his head at Chiye Mai, grabbing hold of the kunai and Kawahara instead. She nodded and shot forward.

There were more grunts.

Dragging Kawahara away, Nara Tanake stashed him behind a tree. He didn't know whether the light above was a jutsu or some device Rain had come up with, but he wasn't going to risk his teammates. After a quick whisper into Tanake's face and shoving the kunai into Tanake's hands, he, too, dashed into the light.

Kunais flashed through the air, most of then deflected, others grazing skin. Chiye gritted her teeth when she saw a dozen in her direction, deflecting most which were aimed at her neck and heart by sacrificing her limbs to the onslaught.

Swearing, Chiye spat out the blood she gathered in her mouth, which landed squarely on the Rain shinobi's face. She coughed up some more, pulling a kunai out of her shoulder.

The other yelped as the blood seeped into his eyes and nose and lit his face on fire from the flesh. She swung, pulling the sword that pierced her side out in a fluid motion and groan, and threw it to Nara Tanake.

"For fuck's sake," she screamed as she flicked off an ice kunai aimed at her with the one she pulled off her shoulder, "Saka, where the hell is Furukawa?!"

"I told him three minutes," Saka Rena said plainly, "should I have said two?"

"You think?!" Chiye shouted, pulling out the third ice kunai off her body.